Immortality
by Sepulchres
Summary: They spent two millennia hiding, and when they come across Mystic Falls, all of their secrets are revealed. And now, everyone looks at them as a threat - what will they gain for everything they give? / Kol/OC. Please review! :3
1. Chapter 1

**Requiem for a Dream (Remix) - Obsidia**

* * *

As an immortal, time is almost limitless. Each year goes by in the blink of an eye, and the gravity of a life-changing event that would affect a human massively, may only be a small dent in the long-term plans of that immortal.

The emotional journey of one who is immortal is one entirely different to anything that has death knocking at their door every day. The minutes, hours, days, _years_, bleed together like they're nothing. It's easy to forget – who left in this year? Who became sick in this year? Who _died_? And then, the big question pops up – does it even matter anymore?

If everyone and everything they know and love eventually withers away and dies, or they move onto their next chapter quicker than said immortal can comprehend, then how can the immortal appreciate the time spent with that loved one? And if that time is never appreciated, then surely, it never mattered.

As a human, it's much easier to dive into something head first – because, really, they're all ticking time bombs on the road to death.

As an immortal, it's completely possible to take for granted those who share the same position as you. Those who share the gift – or curse, depending on your perspective – of eternal life forget that there is always, _always_ a way to end it. And when that reality sets in and they lose someone they never thought they had to, then perhaps that is the greatest loss of all.

It's an endless journey of loss, and hopelessness, and powerlessness against the power of eternal life. Those who don't have it, crave it and those who have it often wish for it's end. Even though it seems to be a simple lesson of appreciation, immortals don't learn because they don't have a set amount of time to do it in.

Often, they will have hundreds of years to fix it. Time is the greatest healer, after all. Some aren't so lucky though, and the death of that loved one will haunt them for eternity.

* * *

"I miss you, Rase."

It was dark out, and Dahlia Lennox was perched on the same hill she sat on this particular night every year. In front of her was a bouquet of flowers – dark, like she felt. It was beautifully arranged, with an assortment of black dahlias, queen of the night tulips, black magic hollyhocks and bat orchids with spatters of baby's breath breaking up the dark tone of the bouquet. Rason didn't like flowers, really – he only picked them with her because it kept her quiet – but he did like the dark ones. Obviously their geographical location limited the amount of dark flowers she had access to, and this bouquet was in no means an exact replica of what she picked as a child, but that didn't matter. She thought it was poetic using her namesake flowers to honour his now non-existent grave.

* * *

**England, 124BC**

_The day was bright. Four siblings were gathered in a large meadow, soaking in the sunlight and enjoying each other's company. Mostly._

_"Big brother, you must join us! The rain has finally ceased after a whole moon cycle, and you are basking in the shade?!" The girl was no more than eleven years old. Standing by her side were two boys, the same age and towering over their younger sister. They were triplets – a rarity of the time. It was a miracle that their mother survived through the pregnancy, let alone the birthing. Each sibling had wavy, onyx hair. The boys had eyes of a striking navy blue, reminiscent of their mother, whilst the girl had eyes like sparkling emeralds, echoing her father. And she was short. Her twin brothers towered over her as they stared at the figure sat beneath the huge oak, whose face held an exasperated expression as he watched over his younger siblings. He was older, at seventeen years of age and was often put in charge of the triplets when his family were busy. He didn't like heat, either – hence the shade._

_"Dahlia, I think you should go play." His voice was a seductively low baritone, fitting perfectly with the confidence and image that exuberated from every pore of his body. His hair was beautifully dark, although lighter than his siblings and he shared the eyes of his younger brothers. As a group, they were beautiful._

_"But Rason, I want you to come play with me!" Dahlia's cheeks were flushed with excitement. Dahlia idolised her big brother and her love for the sunshine came only second for the love she held for her family. So what would be better than spending time with both?_

_Her twin brothers, Brogan and Chester, shook their heads at their sister's whining before walking elsewhere to amuse themselves. They picked up their swords at the other end of the meadow, proceeding to fight each other with them. Rason narrowed his eyes slightly when Chester took a swing at Brogan and sliced off a lock of his hair. They liked to play rough, those boys. They were going to make him prematurely grey. He kept his attention on the boys for just a moment longer, partly because he felt responsible for making sure one didn't hurt or maim the other, and partly because he knew the sight that would be awaiting him when he looked at his sister._

_"Dahlia," Rason sighed. He just wanted to be left alone. He looked at his sister's face, immediately regretting his decision. A huge set of puppy eyes stared back at him, a pout on Dahlia's face as she pulled the expression she knew would let her get her own way. He groaned, before standing up and adjusting his clothing to fit him more comfortably. "Come along then, you little rat."_

_Dahlia squealed, before running to the edge of a meadow where a large flowerbed grew. Rason shook his head, a small smile gracing his face as he started a slow walk towards his little sibling._

* * *

"Even after so long, I still miss you more than anything. So much has changed since you've been gone," Dahlia took a large swig out of the vodka bottle in her hand before continuing. "You'd love it here, Rase. I can just imagine you in the nightclubs – you'd love the girls, you'd love the lights, you'd love the technology. You always liked figuring out how things worked."

It may have been the vodka and cigarettes, but her voice was deep and rustic. It was breathy. Deep voices apparently ran in the family, but it was still distinctly feminine. She pulled a pack of Marlboro's from her bra, checking that she wasn't taking the lucky one from the middle and lit it, inhaling deeply and taking another swig of the vodka. Closing her eyes tightly, she felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she stared down at the single patch of grass in front of her.

"I miss you."

* * *

**117BC**

_'RASON!'_

_The triplets refused to let each other go. The moon was full, and tonight, they had lost sight of their older brother who had gone to spell their lands. He had to stop them before they got into the house._

_'RASE!'_

_Dahlia choked on her breath, tears streaking down her face as she looked frantically around for her oldest brother. The triplets had not fully mastered the art of Expression yet – they couldn't risk using it to find Rason without losing control. Despite their terror, they remembered the one rule that Rason had drummed into them when their powers had set in – no matter what, do not lose control._

_The door slammed open, and a huge, dark animal charged towards the triplets who froze at the sight of it._

_Werewolf._

_They didn't stand a chance – the moon was full and they were petrified with fear. They were poor, defenceless humans ready for the taking._

_Rason came home to a pile of shredded bodies, the decapitated head of his triplet siblings each staring at him. Their eyes were wide with fear, and Rason fell on his knees, trembling._

* * *

"What sucks the most is that you were _supposed _to be here with us."

Dahlia struggled to get the words out. "You brought us back so we could all be together, as a family. And you're not here."

A stream of silent tears fell tragically from her eyes. She stared at where Rason's gravestone should be – she could almost see it surrounded by her own blood. The image was one that haunted her, and often appeared in her dreams. Sometimes, she dreamed of just one static image – her brother's grave drenched in blood.

Wordlessly, Brogan and Chester looked on at their sister sat on top of the hill where they scattered his ashes. It was tradition for the siblings to come back every year to commemorate the passing of the brother that gave his life to save theirs.

If anyone had cared to notice – the triplets had come back to the same spot, every year, on the same day, for the last 2131 years. If anyone cared to notice, it had stormed in this area, every year, on the same day, for the last 2131 years.

'Happy birthday, Rason,' Brogan whispered, his words carrying into the wind and reaching Dahlia's ears. She looked up and allowed a small smile to reach her lips as her brothers walked towards her, planting themselves down on either side of her small figure. She grabbed onto Brogan's hand tightly and leaned on Chester's shoulder, and they huddled together like a group of penguins looking for warmth.

In immortality, they take what they are given. Despite losing Rason, the Lennox triplets were grateful of one thing – that they still had each other.

It hadn't changed in 2131 years. What are the chances of it changing now?

* * *

**Rewritten.**

So I've decided that I'm going to go over the chapters and add/remove details, add/remove scenes as well as correct the (many) mistakes that I have made writing it down due to most of my creative juices only flowing after 2AM. Heh. Hopefully this will kick my motivation up the ass and help me get back into writing about my favourite witchy family.

**Review/PM/Favourite/Follow - I know I'm fickle, but these things really do motivate me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm God - Clam's Casino**

**Can't Hold Us - Macklemore ft. Ryan Lewis**

* * *

"Dahlia, what the _fuck_ is that on your face?"

It had been a pain in the ass trying to sort things out in the new house, but they were finally finished after a whole summer in Mystic Falls. Enough time had passed for them to finally return to the area without being recognised, and Dahlia had jumped at the opportunity to return to the location where their brother's grave was. Mystic Falls had changed a lot since then, but that's alright – the siblings had changed throughout the years, too.

"I've literally just walked into the kitchen and _that_ is how you greet me?" she scoffed, before making her way towards the kettle. There was a moment of silence whilst Brogan stared at his sister as she inspected the water level in the kettle. She tutted, before snapping, "Why don't you ever fill this thing up properly?"

"Don't avoid my question, love. What the shit is that?" Brogan chided. He was staring at her septum, where there seemed to be two silver balls on either side of it. Hopefully, if he blinked, it would go away.

He blinked.

It didn't go away.

"I felt like a change. Tea?" she said, nonchalantly. She was currently on her tiptoes, trying to reach the box of teabags hidden right at the back. They obviously had some sorting of the kitchen to do if the _tea_ was in the back. Maybe she should stop by Target and get some containers for the house.

"So you got a _piercing_ that makes you look like a _bull?_" It was no secret that Brogan despised septum piercings. More often than not, he forgot that he himself had a ring going through his left nostril. He said it was subtle, which Dahlia would always reply with a firm and resounding, 'Bullshit'.

"I look like one hell of a sexy bull."

"And what do you think your new school will say when you come in looking like Pinhead?" Brogan retorted. Dahlia was currently going through a phase of piercings. One on each side of her nose, two on her tongue, several in her ears, a couple on her belly button, _elsewhere_ on her body as well as her newest addition – her septum piercing. But she would be crazy not to take advantage of her abilities. The joy of instantaneous healing meant that she had no ache after a piercing, and no scar if she got bored of it. What piercing fan _wouldn't_ use that to their advantage?

"You know what? I don't understand why I have to go when you guys don't. We're the same fucking age!"

"Because you look like an eighteen year old and we look about twenty one. Midget." Chester chimed in. He had his square framed glasses on and was drinking a cup of (very cold) tea. He had been distracted by the newspaper, which was open in front of him in a very.. _old man_ kind of fashion. He never looked up from it either.

"For someone who looks about twenty one, you sure as fuck act like an granddad," Brogan chuckled, observing his brother.

He fought a small grin. "Respect your elders," he chided, before choosing to stay quiet. He was currently flipping through the financial section, and let out a small cuss as he saw the price of some of his stocks gradually decreasing. His siblings ignored him.

"You look like a twat, Dahlia." Brogan chirped, before flashing way from the cup that smashed where he was just moments ago, snickering as he went.

"You owe me a new mug, you d-bag!"

* * *

"So, do you have enough paper and pens? Shit like that?"

Chester and Brogan were leaning against the car, dropping Dahlia off for the first day of her 'senior' year. The air was abuzz with excitement, teenagers greeting their friends after a long summer of staying at home with their families.

Well, some of them, anyway.

The brothers were uncomfortable, but nowhere near the level of their little sister. It was hilarious watching her squirm, tugging at the choker on her neck. They smirked at her.

"So, how many vampires are here?" Dahlia enquired, frowning at the tiny chip in her nail varnish. She only painted them last night, for God's sake.

"Um, one. So far. And a funny half vampire hybrid thing." Chester said. "Those are a thing now, apparently." He had always been the best at detecting supernatural presences, with Dahlia in close second but it was currently 8AM and she really couldn't be arsed to expend the energy. Brogan? .. Not so much.

"Great." Dahlia started to walk towards the front of the school. Pausing, she turned and looked at her brothers.

"Well, shoo. Go home."

"Oh, but I love the attention I'm getting from these girls! They can't take their eyes off of me," exclaimed Brogan, drawing a few more stares. He had leaned against the car at this point, posing dramatically, attempting a seductive pout.

Dahlia kept a straight, blank face as she stared at him. Her voice was monotone.

"Go home, before I get you done for paedophilia."

* * *

"I'm Dahlia Lennox. I'm new, could I have my timetable please?"

Her English accent rung clearly through the quiet reception room. The lady behind the desk grinned brightly, and nodded, pulling out a map and small piece of paper with her classes and teachers on it.

"So you're from England, dear? We have another new student starting today from England as well."

"That's absolutely fascinating. Thank you."

The thing is, when you're foreign, people always assume that you would like to know other people from the same place. She was half expecting the woman to say, "Oh, do you know each other?" _No, we do not._

She walked out of the room, before glancing at her timetable and walking to AP American History.

Of all of the pointless classes she could of taken, why did her brothers put her down for history? There was no _learning_ to be done. She had lived through most of it, dammit.

* * *

It had taken her a good amount of time to find the classroom. She was obviously close by, now, though – her ears picked up 'Native Americans', so she steered herself in that direction. Why are schools so complicated to navigate?

'Who are you?'

'I'm Rebekah. I'm new and History is my favourite subject.'

'You'll probably be the more _preferable_ new girl then.' Dahlia chimed in, as she walked into the room and dumped her stuff on the closest empty desk she could find, setting her arse down on the seat. Looking at the other girl who just spoke, Dahlia decided that she was very pretty. Up herself, but pretty good looking.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Alaric spoke up.

'And who are_ you_?'

'I'm Dahlia Lennox. I'm new, too.'

'And, um- are you related by any chance?' Alaric glanced at Rebekah, tentative about how many siblings Klaus may have seeing as another Original had just popped up.

Dahlia raised her eyebrows. She cast a glance at the pretty blonde beside her. 'Really?' she asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm. 'We don't even have the same accent. So no.'

He obviously assumed that he was talking about whether they knew each other as they both sounded British. Even though Dahlia sounded like she was from Yorkshire. She'd been told many times that she sounded like Mel B from the Spice Girls, but less intense. How this guy even a teacher?

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking significantly awkward. 'Right- um, well, alright then. Let's get started.'

* * *

Barely two hours of the school day had gone by, and Dahlia had already made her way to the Mystic Grill after wandering around town for half an hour and had run down her smokes to the last two in the packet. She was sat at a booth all on her own, munching away at a small salad with a vodka and lemonade in front of her as well as three empty glasses. The busboy was seriously lacking in observation skills today, she noted. She had her phone out in front of her, scrolling through Twitter so casually that no one would've expected her to be skipping school. She debated texting her brothers, before deciding against it – they would probably lecture her about keeping up appearances by going to school, but she didn't see the point. They were 'eighteen' year olds with a house, three very sexy cars and a lot of money to their name, she thought – surely that would raise suspicion more than a girl not going to school. But, alas, being raised so long ago means that they still had some degree of chauvinist value within them, meaning that they were in charge and she was not. Or so she let them think, anyways.

Looking around, she took notice of a dark haired man sat at the bar. She grinned, stood up, walked towards him and sat next to him.

'A bourbon for my friend here, please,' she said, smiling charmingly at the bartender. He hesitated, seeing as she most definitely didn't look twenty one but after a second had barely passed, he moved towards the bottle and got her the drink, like he had completely forgotten his concerns just moments before.

'Hey, Day,' she grinned.

He looked up, and his eyebrows shot up at whom he saw. This was an old face indeed.

* * *

'So how long's it been, Mister Salvatore?'

Dahlia was taking a sip out of her fresh glass of vodka and lemonade, eyes twinkling happily at the vampire in front of her.

'Oh, a good hundred and thirty years, I suppose,' Damon grinned.

'Ah, yes, when I first met you, you were just a very angry, but very well behaved, baby,' Dahlia chuckled, 'And now look at you! I've heard stories, you know.'

'All good things, I hope,' he smirked. 'Are your brothers here then?' Damon chugged back his free glass of bourbon. He could remember the triplets well from his days of being a baby vamp and had run into them often, even after he learnt to properly bask in the joys of being a vampire. Then, one day, they disappeared. And Damon didn't think to question it – it's what vampires do, after all.

'Oh, they're at home. Probably getting a call about me skiving anytime soon.'

'Skiving?' Damon questioned, his eyebrow raised. 'Your accent isn't as strong as before.' Dahlia snorted, in an extremely ladylike fashion.

'Oh, you Americans. Skipping school, I think it's called?'

He laughed at her. '_You?_ In _school_? And may I ask you why?'

'Because my brothers look legal, and I do not,' Dahlia deadpanned, much to the amusement of Damon. She grunted.

'So come amuse me. I'm bored.'

'Are you not going to the bonfire later?' he questioned.

'Bonfire? Interesting. Maybe. But that's later. This is now,' she paused. 'Entertain me.'

'With?'

'For starters, you can come for a cigarette with me.'

'Great, I can already smell the poison.'

* * *

They had somehow ended back up at the boarding house. Dahlia smelled blood before she even got into the home, and raised her eyebrow questioningly.

'My brother went all ripper on me. Again.' Damon deadpanned, nose curling as he stepped over the bodies on his expensive-as-fuck Persian rug. Dahlia's other eyebrow joined the other one closer to her hairline, and he continued. 'Heard of the Ripper of Montarey?'

'Shit! That was your brother?' Dahlia gasped, before she broke into a fit of laughter. 'Fuck me, you're unfortunate then aren't you? Dealing with a ripper is never fun.'

Damon grumbled slightly, before replying to her. 'Klaus made him turn off the switch. Last night, actually.'

'Right. So, last night, whilst I was in bed having a Disney movie marathon, there was some kind of vampire showdown which involved the feared Klaus _right here_ in Mystic Falls?' Dahlia questioned, slightly surprised. Just slightly, though. Nothing is too extraordinary in Mystic Falls.

'You know Klaus?' Damon questioned. He didn't expect the 'innocent' Dahlia, with an affinity for all things childish and a habit of making a fool of herself in public, to know Klaus.

She waved her hand dismissively. 'Heard of him. You can't not have heard of him when you've been around for as long as I have, Day,'

'You never did tell me how long you've been around for, y'know,' he hinted, kicking away a body on his way to his liquor.

'Oh, c'mon, sweetheart, you should know that it's impolite to ask a woman their age,' Dahlia smirked, as Damon glared at her. She chuckled. 'Let's just say I'm old enough to be your great-grandmother, several times over. Mind if I smoke?' She plonked herself down on the cushy sofa, avoiding the drops of blood with a slight sneer. Blood's a bitch to get out of clothes.

Damon would much rather have said _yes, I do mind_, but he took a look at the girl and reconsidered his answer. He shook his head, knowing that it was best just to let her get her way for now. She was very difficult to deal with when she didn't get her way.

'Why do you smoke, anyway?' he asked. Humans find it soothing, but there really wasn't much point for a vampire. Vampires didn't even need to breathe – he never understood why the siblings smoked.

'Helps with the cravings, babes,' she stated, before holding her packet out towards him. 'Want one?'

He scrunched his nose.

'Oh, come on, you would smoke opium with me back when you were a goody two shoes baby vamp but you won't smoke a fag? You have priority issues.' Dahlia shook her head, feeling the heat of his glare on her forehead. She was fighting a smile off her face. Nevertheless, he handed her a glass of wine.

'Oh, Sauvignon! You're a dear, Damon.'

* * *

There were teenagers _everywhere_. They were amongst a random bunch of trees, with beer kegs and red cups and bad music. Brogan and Dahlia were fighting off a large cringe as they heard what was playing.

'I didn't realise that high school parties were so.. stereotypical,' Brogan muttered. He had his arm flung around his sister, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He looked a little bit too old to be there, but that's alright – he scanned the crowd looking for Damon, hearing from his little sister that he was here. If Damon could be here, then so could he. Damon technically looked older, anyways. Focusing for just a moment, he sniffed his surroundings and his nose zoned in on one particular scent. His eyes quickly followed and zeroed in on his friend, before he flashed over, leaving a disgruntled Dahlia in a gust of wind.

'Prick!'

'Ah, Damon Salvatore!' Brogan grinned, sitting down next to his old friend and slinging an arm around his shoulder. He ignored his sisters muffled curses at him. 'Long time no see, friend!' His eyes moved towards the pretty blonde sat next to him, who took a second to focus on Brogan instead of her burnt marshmallow. Naturally, there was a huge, cheeky grin on his face. 'And who might you be, pretty lady?'

She scoffed. 'Out of your league.' Brogan laughed, casting a lingering glance at her before turning his attention back to Damon.

'Last time I saw you, you were_ boring_, Damon. And now you're cooking s'mores! Chatting up pretty birds! Who taught you so well? Hmm?' Brogan had a playful smirk on his face, eyes twinkling with mirth whilst he repeatedly poked Damon in the side as Rebekah stared on in curiosity.

'And I'm reunited with the _fun_ brother, after so long. Where's Chester?' Damon paused. He was happy to see this guy again. 'Where's your sister?'

'I'm right here,' she snapped – Rebekah's eyebrows shot up in slight surprise. She didn't even sense the girl approaching them – and she usually sensed these kinds of things. Odd. 'Thanks for ditching me, you arsehole.'

'You're a big girl, love, you'll be fine,' Brogan chuckled as he reached into a pocket inside his jacket. He pulled out a bottle of vodka, handing it over to his sister who grinned. 'Knock yourself out. As for Chester, you should remember that he's the boring one – not me. Hence why I'm here, and he's at home doing crosswords or some shit,' Brogan stopped his poking of Damon's side (who at this point had started squirming from how tickly it felt) to wave his hand dismissively. He spoke with his hands, Brogan did. He liked to speak with his hands.

Dahlia coughed, staring at him expectantly. He grin fell and he sighed, before reaching into his back pocket and handing over his cigarettes and prized zippo. She cackled, and walked away.

'Don't get yourself hurt, Day!' she yelled back, swaying her hips as she went. She was going to go find this DJ and give him a piece of her mind, then get absolutely out-of-her-face smashed, drunk, and pissed.

'She's a firecracker, that one,' Rebekah commented. She could always have respect for a girl who had her brothers wrapped around their finger. Maybe she could finally make a friend here, she thought as she started licking at the edge of her s'more under the intense look of Brogan. To anyone else, it may have looked like a look of approval and lust but even from a distance, Dahlia could tell that he was appraising Rebekah. After two thousand years on the earth, it's funny what people pick up about others when they just _look_. Brogan blinked, before his usual playful smirk graced his face once again and a gleeful twinkle crossed his eyes.

'I can see you're busy, old friend,' he commented, casting a look at Damon who was looking at him intently, a small smirk on his lips. 'I'll leave you to it, mate. Although, if this beautiful lady decides she wants a manlier presence in her life, my arms are open any time.' He winked at Rebekah, whose eyebrows were raised close to her hairline at this point. The gall of this guy, she thought. Who does he think he is?

And just for the fun of it, Brogan gave Damon a very large, very sloppy kiss on the cheek. The vampires vaguely heard the distant laugh of Dahlia, as Damon tried to process what the_ wetness_ on his face was. Fucking gross. Rebekah grinned. He did seem kind of fun, though.

'Good to see ya, pal!' Brogan yelled, as he sauntered off in the direction of Elena and Stefan, who were watching the exchange with raised eyebrows. He could see his sister upside-down on a barrel behind them. He sighed, before he grinned and ran towards her, going to hold her legs up above the barrel. Rebekah couldn't help but look in approval at his backside in those _very_ tight jeans.

* * *

Dahlia thought that hanging upside down drinking beer was a very good excuse and method to observe what was going on between the pretty blonde and Damon (which it was). Brogan did the same thing right-side up, holding onto his sisters legs and peering through the gap between them at the couple as well. They tuned into what they were saying.

'Why are you being so nice to me?' questioned Rebekah. 'You hate me, you should be mean.' She was glancing up and down, alternating between his eyes and lips. Dahlia raised her eyebrows, whilst Brogan narrowed his eyes.

'Well I can be mean, if that's what you're into,' he replied smoothly, signature sexy smirk on his face. Brogan snickered. He was much smoother than Damon, that's for sure.

'He thinks he's smooth.' Dahlia would've laughed if she could, but it was fucking hard with a nozzle in her mouth. She made a noise of agreement instead.

'You're distracting me. Why?' She stood up. That looked like a _challenge_.

'Just tryin' to be a good housemate,' he replied, whilst Dahlia and Brogan rolled their eyes. Lordy, he's not very good at excuses. And his smug face was hilarious.

'It's never a gonna be a fair fight between us, Damon.' She stabbed him through the stomach with the stick she was making s'mores with. 'Remember that.' Brogan burst out laughing and dropped his sister, who tumbled backwards and landed straight on her ass as she choked on the beer. She tried to be angry at her brother, but she couldn't.

After all, she had tried to laugh herself.

* * *

A lot had happened that night, much to the amusement of the attending siblings. Dahlia had spent the walk home catching Brogan up on the events of the ever-so-exciting Mystic Falls, right up to the previous night where Klaus made an appearance and created his first successful hybrid. It appeared that her day of skipping school turned out to be a very productive day indeed, allowing her to gather a mass of information that would have been a pain in the arse to figure out otherwise if someone hadn't just told her. Like Damon had told her.

They leaned against each other, both slightly tipsy. Old people need to have fun, y'know, and that was exactly what they were doing that night. Getting hammered and having fun.

They were walking across the school parking lot, when they noticed a bright light on the other side. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but then it clicked. A car had just been set alight.

'Can you feel that?' Brogan was suddenly much more sober, feeling the crackle of magic in the air. 'That's no teenager being an arsonist.' They focused, before seeing someone standing where the flames began. She was slightly transparent to them, but there she was.

'Is that a ghost?' laughed Dahlia, 'All of the interesting shit happens in this town doesn't it? They never seem to catch a break.'

They looked on for a few seconds longer, before they saw Mr. Saltzman running towards the car, trying to break the window. The siblings looked at each other, before Dahlia pointed a single finger towards the car and the flames extinguished. The ghost ended up at the front of the car, whilst a Elena (who was in her History class) pushed another, seemingly out of it lad out of the back of the car. His name might have been Stefan (also in her History class) and Dahlia thought that he was a prick. It wasn't until this moment, however, that she clicked onto who he actually was - he was _Stefan_, the guy that her and Damon had been speaking about all afternoon. Well shit the bed!

It was during her epiphany that Brogan decided to pull her close to him, as they both flashed away back home. It wouldn't be good to be spotted doing magic here.

'Something funny's going on here, Bro,' stated Dahlia as they walked through the door. She turned towards the kitchen fridge drawer to grab herself a bloodbag. 'We shouldn't be feeling this magic here. It's not ours, so obviously some shit is going _down_.'

Chester walked out from the living room, focusing on his siblings.

'So you felt it too, right?'

'Definitely,' Brogan and Dahlia replied simultaneously. They looked at each other for a moment, before Dahlia turned away with said bloodbag dangling from her mouth with the full intention of making _actual_ food whilst Brogan caught Chester up on the events of that day and the days previous.

'You need to come out with us more, bro,' stated Brogan before he launched into the very long story, 'It's a pain in the ass telling you things second hand all of the time.'

* * *

**AN: **

So.. chapter 2. Not much happening just yet, but I have particular scenes and ideas planned out - it's just hard making it interesting in between.

Also, the music music listed above is the music I listen to to write that particular chapter. Although the first chapter is definitely based on Requiem for a Dream - Obsidia. In terms of slang, _pissed_ is equivalent to drunk in the land of the English. Apparently Americans get confused by this. :p

**Review/Follow/Favourite/PM! Motivation/constructive criticism is good for a person like me. :) Feel free to ask any questions as well.**

Outfits - all on Polyvore

Dahlia's outfit for school  
dahlias_first_day_chapter/set?id=123631873

Dahlia's outfit at the bonfire  
dahlias_bonfire_outfit_chapter/set?id=123645687

Brogan's outfit at the bonfire  
brogans_bonfire_outfit_chapter/set?id=123645980

**EDIT: 25/07/14. As I'm in the process of edits, this chapter has been edited. However, not much really needed to be changed in terms of events so I just fixed a few typos and rephrased some things that I felt could've been better. I also decided that Rason was cremated instead of buried because, well, he was buried in Mystic Falls and not England. He would've smelled real bad if he wasn't cremated, so..**


	3. Chapter 3

**Music:**

**Boy - Emma Louise**

* * *

'Day_yyy~!_' Dahlia chimed, stepping into the boarding house and kicking the door shut with her foot. 'I bring breakfast!'

Stefan appeared in front of her, before he laughed quietly and nudged her out of the way, making his way out of the front door.

'Good morning to you too, Ripper boy,' Dahlia snarked, and he turned around with his eyebrows raised. She looked at him for a moment, handbag hooked carefully in the crook of her elbow and a box food tucked under her other arm. Her ears perked up at the sound of Damon's shouts of pain, and she raised her eyebrows at Stefan. He looked about to question her, but his mouth closed and he shook his head and walked away.

'Yeah, you better walk away, you prick,' she muttered, before she made her way into the next room where an interesting sight greeted her.

The curtains were open, shining sunlight on the apparently burning Damon Salvatore. There stood a man, slightly transparent, looking at her questioningly as she noticed him there. She could see him?

Once again, she shook her head before placing her handbag and the box of food down. She strolled towards the curtains, closing them tightly as Damon let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't even noticed her there. What an idiot.

Looking at the ghost, she made a _shooing_ motion with her hand as he stared at her in shock. She focused on the daylight ring on the floor, picking it up and placing it on Damon's finger and untying him from the chair.

Dahlia looked up, and the ghost was gone. Damon, on the other hand, was panting, and looking at her questioningly.

'It appears that you've pissed off a ghost, Damon,' she stated, laughing at him slightly. She walked over to he bag of food she brought, pulling out a bottle of blood and throwing it towards him. He was obviously out of it, because it hit him on the cheek. Damon groaned. Dahlia sighed as it rolled back towards her. She picked it up and handed it to the vampire in front of her.

'So, who did you kill in this fashion?' she asked with her hand on her hip as he gulped down a few mouthfuls of blood. He swallowed, took a breath and replied, 'Some werewolf called Mason Lockwood.'

She let out a breath before heading back over to the bag of food and she placed it on his lap. She kneeled in front of him, inspecting him for injury.

'What would you have done if I hadn't brought breakfast, hmm?' she pondered, giggling slightly. 'Always get yourself in trouble, you do.'

When she decided that he was fine, she stood up and grabbed her things. He looked at her questioningly.

'Where're you going? You just got here,' his eyebrows were raised.

'Chester wants me to go to the Illuminations event thing with him, because he's a big jackass nerd that's cashing in on a prank I played on him the other day,' Dahlia muttered, turning to look at Damon. He raised his eyebrows.

'I'm going in a minute. Eat breakfast with me and I'll give you a ride.'

She pondered this. She was wearing heels after all, and she had flashed here in the morning. Shrugging, she sat down on the sofa and patted the seat next to her, indicating Damon to join her.

* * *

Pulling up to the event, Damon stopped by Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Dahlia recognised Caroline Forbes from, _again_, her History class.

Huh, apparently vampires liked taking history.

Dahlia was sat to Damon's right, and she received a questioning look from both girls as they noticed her sat in Damon's car, but they approached them anyway.

'Greetings, blondie. Witchy. Think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan,' Damon's face was immensely displeased. His eyebrow was raised and everything.

'What do you mean?' Bonnie asked. 'Why?'

'Because I'm pretty sure I just got spitroasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost.'

Dahlia snorted, 'Oh, sweetheart, you _did_ get spitroasted and it was bloody hilarious,'

Damon glared at her again. He does that a lot, it seemed – and his frown only worsened as she lit up a cigarette. She looked at him as she blew out the smoke, attempting to get it to go _out_ of the vicinity of the car. 'What? The hood's down, jackass,'

'What?' Bonnie interrupted them.

'Why would you think that?' asked Caroline, as he turned his attention back to the blonde vampire – not without sparing Dahlia a disdainful glance first.

'Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest,' he shrugged sarcastically, 'Let's just say I'm having déjà vu.'

Bonnie and Caroline's foreheads creased in surprise, as Bonnie became more and more worried. They stayed quiet for a moment.

'I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people?' Caroline demanded.

'They can't.' Bonnie's forehead got more and more wrinkled by the second. Boy, that girl was worried.

'Yeah, well, I don't have time for vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead,' snapped Damon.

'You tried to kill me once,' Dahlia drawled, taking another drag of her cigarette, a small smirk playing on her features.

'You're not involved in this, and make sure all that ash is _out_ of my car,' he sniped. He turned back to Bonnie. 'Whatever you screwed up, fix it.'

Quickly, he drove away from the bewildered girls.

'We need to go to the Grill,' Dahlia chirped, leaning back into her seat. Damon looked at her and raised a brow.

'Why?'

'Chester's there, mate.'

* * *

'You know, I've had enough vampires today, thanks.' Alaric groaned, raising his hand towards Damon and turning to walk away.

'Oh come on, have a drink with me. We've got trouble,' Damon chirped. At this point, Dahlia was walking behind Damon, looking for her brother.

'No, you've got trouble. See, we're not a team. You tried to kill me, alright? We're not friends. I don't like you anymore,' snapped Alaric. He then saw Damon's shadow, and his face was full of questions.

Dahlia snorted. 'He's tried to kill most people, pal,' she paused, 'Apparently he's got a track record of being unsuccessful.'

'Ah! But remember back when you liked me and we conspired to kill Uncle werewolf Mason Lockwood?' said Damon, enunciating each tone and word slightly too much. He turned to Dahlia. 'And you, dear, can shut it.'

'Yeah, and?' Alaric ignored the quick exchange, despite his burning questions about the girl. 'Should we even be talking about this in front of her?'

'I think he's still a little bit pissed. And yes.'

Dahlia rolled her eyes, before taking the hand of each man and dragging them towards the bar.

* * *

'Chester!' exclaimed Dahlia, her tone of voice just full of happiness, rainbows and sunshine. She plonked herself on the stool beside him, as Alaric and Damon did the same thing on the other side.

'Ah, Salvatore. Long time no see, mate. Heard you were back,' smiled Chester, raising his glass in acknowledgement before chugging the rest of it down. Alaric looked on curiously, as Damon ordered two bourbons and turned to Dahlia's brother.

'And you've resorted to daytime drinking now, too?' Damon chuckled. 'Good man.'

'Well, y'know, mate. There's nothing else to do in this time,' said Chester, waving his hand at the bartender for another pint. Dahlia nudged him, and he sighed. 'Vodka and lemonade as well, please,'

'Should you really be ordering that for her?' Alaric was tentative in asking, seeing as he had absolutely _no_ idea what was going on. Damon shook his head, before turning to him.

Dahlia laughed. 'I'm much older than you, Alaric. I think I can handle a little vodka.'

His eyebrows shot up, and he looked at Damon accusingly.

'You didn't tell me there was another group of vampires in town,' he stated, never taking eyes off of the dark-haired vampire. Damon shrugged.

'You don't like me anymore.'

Alaric glared slightly, before he reached for his own drink that had just arrived. Looking up, his forehead creased in surprise. 'Mason?'

Mason grabbed Damon's drink before he even had a chance to touch it. 'God, I miss whiskey,' he sighed, before chugging it down. All three men stared each other down, whilst Dahlia and Chester looked on with completely impassive expressions.

It was quiet for a moment, before Mason smashed the glass into Damon's forehead, and he groaned in pain. Alaric reared back in shock, as the Lennox siblings snickered quietly into their drinks.

Damon turned to them all. 'Told ya,'

* * *

'You felt that, then, Ches?' questioned Dahlia. She took a small sip of her drink and looked down at her nails.

'Mhm,' he mumbled, looking at the selection of alcohol behind the bar. Mason, Damon and Alaric turned to the siblings.

'Felt what?' asked Damon. He had _no_ idea what was going on.

'Your witchy friend probably just cast a spell that manifests the ghosts in this town,' Dahlia replied nonchalantly, indicating towards Mason dismissively. She nodded at him in greeting, as he stared at her with a raised eyebrow. 'You could get high off the amount of magical energy in the air right now.'

'Wait, weren't you the girl that saw me this morning?' he questioned. What even was this girl?

'Mm. Yep, that was me. Except you kind of sparkled in the sunlight and I could see through you,' she replied, as Chester chuckled. 'It makes me laugh that Stephanie Meyer wrote about sparkling vampires but it's actually sparkly ghosts.'

'I don't sparkle,' stated Mason.

'Well you don't right now, but you did. When you were, y'know, on the, um-' Dahlia paused, looking at Chester. 'The whatchyamacallit.'

'Other Side,' he drawled, not taking his attention off the alcohol labels behind the bar.

'Yes! The Other Side!' Dahlia nodded to herself.

Damon was shocked. 'You can see ghosts?'

'I can do a lot of things, Mister Salvatore. Don't underestimate me,' she winked.

Chester was about to speak, when Damon's phone went off. It was quiet as he texted back.

'I am never going to hear the end of that damn necklace,' he grumbled. The Lennox twins raised their eyebrows, before peering over to Mason. Dahlia's face started to twist into a grin.

'One of you will pay for this, right?' he paused. 'Cheers,' and he chugged it down, a satisfied smile on his face.

Damon looked fed up. 'Let's get to it. I killed you, you want revenge,' he whispered the last part, 'Get in line.'

'Actually,' Mason's face was serious, as he leaned towards Damon. 'I want an apology.'

Alaric couldn't resist letting out a disbelieving laugh, which Chester and Dahlia joined him in. 'Good luck with that,' he mumbled.

'I think he's tried to kill us all, at one point,' Dahlia chimed in, chugging the last of her drink.

Damon glared at her, before turning back to Mason. 'Don't you have a family to haunt? You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid Minion.'

'That's why I'm here. To help Tyler,' he replied, a look of determination in his eyes.

'Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always,' said Damon, rolling his eyes.

'Not necessarily. Not if you found a weapon that could kill him,' his eyes were drawn to Dahlia, who was staring at him intently. Her features betrayed absolutely no hint of surprise, which intrigued Mason.

Damon scoffed. 'There is no weapon that..' he paused. Mason was dead, he could have learnt a lot from there. 'What do you know?'

'I know you need to apologise,' replied Mason.

'You got to be kidding me,' Damon sniped, his features slightly betraying the frustration he felt.

'Are you incapable of remorse?' snapped Alaric. 'Just apologise!'

Damon took a deep, calming breath, ignoring Dahlia's snickers. He would make another attempt on her life if she didn't stop _taking the piss_ out of him all the time. Nevertheless, his eyes never left Mason's. 'You're right,' it was obviously difficult for him to apologise, as he kept pausing. 'I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do.' He shrugged slightly.

Mason laughed, 'That's good enough.' He got up out of the chair before he continued. 'Meet me at the old Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel,' he looked at Alaric, 'Come alone.'

Dahlia groaned as Chester finally paid attention to the werewolf. 'Seriously, pal? You can't say that. I want to go. Someone's got to make sure you don't bury Damon alive,' said Dahlia, tilting her head at Mason.

He sighed, before nodding. 'Don't tempt me.'

Mason left, and Damon turned to his companions. Dahlia's eyes were sparkling with glee as Chester looked on in interest.

Alaric's eyebrows creased in confusion.

* * *

'This is gonna be fun!' chirped Dahlia. Behind her trailed Damon carrying a shovel and Brogan, playing Candy Crush on his phone. He didn't even know why he was here. Fuck sake.

When they got there, Mason was lighting lanterns.

'Scary scary,' whispered Dahlia, lips pursed in excitement. She was bouncing on her heels slightly. She looked at Mason. 'If you needed a lighter, all you had to do was ask, hun.'

'I'm surprised you showed,' he said, ignoring Dahlia's comment completely.

'You put a snag in my only other Klaus lead,' sniped Damon, 'So I'd say I'm highly motivated.'

'Mikael? Yeah. That didn't turn out so great, did it?' said Mason, just sounding just _ever so slightly_ smug. At the name, Brogan paused his game and began to pay attention, before he glanced at his sister quickly.

'How do you know so much?' Damon asked.

Mason looked up and noticed Brogan, who waved ever so slightly. 'Who are you?'

'This is my other brother, Brogan!' Dahlia twittered happily. 'Chester couldn't be arsed to come so he sent Bro-bro instead,'

Mason was quiet for a moment, observing the tall man in front of him before turning back to Damon. 'There's not much to do on the other side but sit around and watch other people screw things up.'

Damon pursed his lips. 'What are we looking for?'

'There's an old Lockwood family legend about a weapon that can kill an original vampire,' he replied. He took a swing at the brick wall. 'Like the rest of their secrets, they kept it buried.' He took another swing.

'You founding families are sounding more and more creepy as the days go on,' remarked Dahlia. Brogan snickered in agreement. His head was turned back towards his phone again.

Mason obviously wasn't strong enough, and Damon let out an exasperated sigh. 'Oh, come on, give me the thing,' he picked up the shovel, 'Move.'

When it's broken down, both peer into the tunnel behind it.

'Go for it,' said Mason, holding up the lantern.

Damon looked at him in disbelief. 'You first!'

'What, you think I'm leading you into a trap?' he looked amused.

'The thought crossed my mind,' Damon drawled. Dahlia rolled her eyes, muttering underneath her breath.

'Get the fuck out of my way, you big babies,' she snapped, before pushing them aside and stepping into the tunnel. Brogan groaned as he ran out of lives on Candy Crush, and followed his sister. They had nothing better to do right now anyway.

* * *

Chester looked on towards the Mayor from the very back of the crowd at the Illuminations. Apparently, Tobias Fell had been '_detained_'. He could feel the amount of ghosts in the air, and he could feel how many of those were vampires.

Somehow, he didn't think that Tobias Fell was simply '_detained_'. Shaking his head, he turned away from the crowd and looked at the tree just behind him. Smelling blood, he glanced upwards.

Looky here! He found Tobias Fell.

He stayed rooted at his spot as the lights came on. Someone started screaming.

* * *

By this point, Dahlia had put her headphones in. They hadn't been walking long, but she never enjoyed hikes. This walk definitely felt like a hike – it took a lot more effort than expected to navigate these stupid tunnels.

'I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Your motives are deceptively pure,' Damon said, his tone laced in suspicion.

'You talk the talk, but I know you'll do anything for your brother. You won't screw me over as long as we have the same agenda,' Mason replied.

'Confident one, you,' cooed Dahlia. She had resigned to letting them walk ahead of her, seeing as she didn't hold a lantern.

'I'm supposed to believe you're not going to screw me over?' Damon answered, and Mason chuckled. It was quiet for a moment, before they came to a crossroads.

'Oh. Mindfuck,' commented Brogan. The other men glanced at him, as he grinned innocently back at them.

'All right. Which way?' Damon said.

'I don't know. Flip a coin,' Mason replied.

'Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing?' Damon said disbelievingly, raising an eyebrow at Mason.

'I'm a ghost. I'm not God.' Damon pursed his lips in frustration. 'Go left.'

Damon moved forward nevertheless, peering quickly into the left tunnel before deciding to go straight on.

'Or not.' Mason rolled his eyes. 'You have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that?'

'Me.' Dahlia and Brogan deadpanned simultaneously. Damon didn't even have a chance to reply, before he was staked several times.

Dahlia couldn't help but let out a huge belly laugh, and her brother shortly joined her.

'Yo. Help a brother out?' Damon groaned, looking at the twins. 'These two are useless. Mason?'

* * *

'You should give the necklace back, you know,' Chester drawled, standing behind Anna. She turned around swiftly, her eyes falling on the tall, dark-haired man.

'Who are you?' she asked. Her eyes were wide.

'Oh, no one important, really. Elena's coming now, though. It would probably be a good idea for you to give it back,' he paused, 'You can't ask him to love a dead person for the rest of his life.'

Chester smiled at her before he turned and walked away, leaving Anna in a fog of confusion. She watched Elena approach Jeremy.

* * *

The siblings had been watching Damon struggle just for a moment, debating on whether they should help before they heard Mason's footsteps approaching. So they stayed back.

Damon groaned, 'Oh, I'm having a bad day.'

'Sorry. Thought you might need this,' Mason said, before going to snap the takes out of the walls. He paused for moment, before looking back at the twins. 'Why didn't you do anything?'

'We're just innocent bystanders,' replied Brogan. 'And vervain.'

Dahlia nodded, and Damon turned his head at her, sending a glare that would surely be able to put people to death if said ability did exist. She grinned, before waving her hand at them. 'As you were, gentlemen.'

Mason rolled his eyes slightly, before focusing back on his task. 'You're welcome.'

'What's your game, man?' Damon was still slightly out of breath at this point, and his face did absolutely nothing to hide his inner annoyance and frustration at being.. just.. _here._ 'I killed you.'

Mason pulled a stake out of him.

'I jammed my fist into your chest.'

Mason pulled out another one, and Damon let out a loud grunt of pain.

'I ripped your heart out.'

Another stake was removed, and Damon groaned again.

'There's no way this buddy-trust act is real,' Damon finished, eyes slightly widened from the pain.

'You know what the other side is like? We're all alone. We watch the people we left behind and we regret our decisions. That's it. Look, I can't change what happened to me. But maybe I can change what happens to Tyler. I don't need revenge, Damon. I need redemption,' stated Mason, looking at Damon.

Dahlia and Brogan looked at each other sadly. 'At least you can look on at the people you left behind, Mason,' said Dahlia, and she continued to walk onwards. She never noticed the glances of confusion cast at her back by Damon and Mason.

* * *

'God! This is not happening,' groaned Damon.

'What now?' sighed Mason.

'I can't get through. It's like I'm not invited in,' Damon looked on in slight panic whilst Mason continued on. 'Wait!'

'I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. I'll let you know what I find.' Mason replied, a tone of amusement in his voice.

'Yeah, but-' Damon was cut off

'Looks like you're gonna have to trust me.'

Damon looked back at Brogan and Dahlia, who just shrugged at him.

'We can't help you here, mate. Maybe we should just go home,' Brogan laughed, looking at his sister. She nodded, before giving Damon a hug and turning back.

'Where are you going?' Damon snapped.

Dahlia laughed. 'I'm going home, Damon. Call if you need anything.'

* * *

'Is Mason screwing with me, Alaric? Or is there something in there?'

There was no answer.

'Ric?'

Alaric's features showed nothing but amazement as he looked on at the pictures on the wall. After a moment, he seemed to finally find his voice.

'I found something.'

'What is it?' Damon asked impatiently.

'I have no idea.'

It was quiet for just a while longer.

'Maybe I should take Dahlia up on that phonecall,' said Damon, feeling his phone in his pocket.

* * *

**AN:**

So, yes - three updates in two days. Fabulous!  
This is only because it's _extremely_ easy (although tedious) to write, as the triplets haven't quite gotten involved in everything too much yet. Hell, they've not even met everyone yet!  
Nevertheless, any ideas on how to speed the story up faster, _please_ let me know. If people notice, there have been little hints and clues on the abilities of the triplets so far. All I can let you know is that they _are_, in a sense, vampires.

**Review/Follow/Favourite/PM! Constructive criticism & bouts of encouragement always welcomed. :)**

Outfits (all on polyvore):

Dahlia's Boarding House/Grill outfit:  
/dahlias_illuminations_outfit_chapter/set?id=123683677

Chester's Grill/Illuminations outfit:  
chesters_outfit_at_mystic_grill/set?id=123692930

Dahlia's Lockwood Cellar outfit:  
dahlias_lockwood_cellar_outfit_chapter/set?id=123693372

Brogan's Lockwood Cellar outfit:  
brogans_lockwood_cellar_outfit_chapter/set?id=123693633


	4. Chapter 4

**Music:**

**Second & Sebring (Piano Cover) by Of Mice & Men – Tristan Trevino (Dahlia in her room)**

**Born to Die (Gemini Remix) - Lana Del Rey (Dive Bar)**

**Never Meant to Belong – Shiro Sagisu (Stefan/Damon as Damon says he owes him, Dahlia at the Gilbert House)**

* * *

Dahlia sat on the windowsill of her alcove in her bedroom with her knees pulled up to her chest, cradling a rapidly cooling cup of tea. She had an old fluffy blanket wrapped around her shoulders and her feet, leaning against a huge pile of soft cushions. It was pitch black out, bar the stars that were illuminating the woods she was staring into. Well, she wasn't really staring into the woods, but that's where her eyes were focused on. They were glazed over, thinking about the past happenings of Mystic Falls as well as what she had witnessed in the past few days.

This town was some kind of supernatural hotspot. Everything that could potentially happen in the supernatural world seemed to have happened here – the creation of vampires and hybrids, a group of werewolf inhabitants, doppelganger appearances, witch massacres – it was all too much for Dahlia to take in. Major events that occur this way aren't supposed to happen to the same people, in the same area. The chances of that happening were astronomical – and yet..

She would be stupid to not consider the Original family a threat. Whether she was _out_ in the vampire world or not, she still heard stories about the power-hungry, fearsome Klaus. She had never met him and had always stayed out of sight if she ever came across him. This, however, wasn't out of fear – she knew that, if Klaus knew of the existence of the twins, he would _never_ let it go. His pride would not allow someone to be more powerful than he, the almighty vampire-werewolf hybrid.

Dahlia and her brothers often patted themselves on the back for the amount of skill they have in keeping their secret. The witches knew the Lennox siblings _only_ as Expression witches and had cast them aside long ago, and the current generation of witches had practically forgotten the Lennox which line. Vampires, on the other hand, only knew of them as vampires. It was a delicate balance to maintain – you could be one or the other, but if you were both, you would draw far too much attention and would cause chaos. The Lennox family were the only ones that knew of the loophole that allowed one to be both witch and vampire. There were aspects of themselves that they hadn't revealed to anyone outside of the family.

Perhaps the time is coming to reveal themselves though, Dahlia thought. With the amount of things that are cropping up in Mystic Falls, it would be extremely shocking if she didn't come across someone who posed a challenge towards her and her abilities.

But it would definitely be a shame. Revealing their secrets after two thousand years of conscious and constant secrecy made it seem like a huge waste of time in the first place, but sometimes, things just have to be done.

She blinked for the first time in about five minutes, before she let out a small sigh and stood up. Wrapping her blanket tighter around herself, she headed towards the double French doors that led to a small balcony that housed a small table and cushiony swing chair, sheltered from potential rain with a tiny veranda. She stuck her hand out of her blanket briefly, taking the packet of cigarettes and lighter as well as her phone off of the table by the doors and sat down on the swing chair. Her legs curled up against her again, and she took a moment to get herself situated before continuing to contemplate every aspect of knowledge she had picked up in the last few days. It was difficult to focus on anything else in the silence of the night.

Would it really be such a bad thing to get involved? They had done nothing for several years, choosing to travel in the shadows and make brief appearances only to people they knew wasn't of significance in either world they belonged in, with only the occasional exception. The last exception was a hundred and thirty years ago, with Damon Salvatore. Even then, they only let him retain memories of them as he was so young and knew nothing of the world he had joined. The only thing Dahlia wanted was to find a way to bring back her brother without destroying his soul completely, but it was hard. His soul was now entwined with hers, as well as Chester's and Brogan's – even with their strength as triplets combined, there was a larger chance of losing Rason forever than there was of bringing him back.

Dahlia couldn't take that chance.

Getting involved might be a way to find answers for herself, though. Maybe the reason why they haven't found any answers was because they were too scared to stick a limb out of the shadows and go for it in the first place.

Taking a deep inhale of her cigarette, she glanced down at her phone which was loudly vibrating against her little side table. The name '_Damon_' flashed on the screen in a blaring white, and she fought a small smile as she rolled her eyes. Damon was never afraid to ask for a favour. He never had been afraid.

Maybe that was another reason why the triplets liked him – he didn't openly show fear.

'Hey, Day,' Dahlia smiled. Not that he could see it, but whatever. 'Need my help already?'

'_Do you know how to read, say, runes dating back to the Vikings?' _he questioned. Straight to the point, as well. Another admirable quality.

'I may do. Why?'

_'We might need some help translating.'_

'Well, get me some pictures and I'll meet you in the morning sometime.'

_'How about now?'_ he pushed.

'No, piss off. I'm tired.' There was only so much of Damon's demands Dahlia could take at any one point, and her patience was thin right now.

Dahlia hung up, looking up at the moon as she did so.

* * *

'I honestly don't understand how all of you get up so _early_,' Dahlia grumbled, following behind Damon. He wasn't happy with her today – she'd slept too late to make it to Alaric's in the morning where they spent a good hour at least looking through the photographs of the cave drawings that Alaric had taken.

Oh well, sleep is precious, she thought.

Right now, they were headed to the old Forbes jail cell, where Damon had informed her that Stefan was chained up and partly through a ripper-binge detox. She'd raised her eyebrow at that. Obviously a guardian angel ghost person had done that, she thought. It was probably a good thing. The boy's a liability.

Nevertheless, she followed. Damon had told her stories of Stefan. He interested her.

**'**You know, if you're gonna keep me locked in here for the next decade, I think we can skip the routine visits,' said Stefan. His voice was sarcastic, and slightly slurred.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow, before chucking slightly. 'You seem to hold a lot of anger,' she commented lightly, leaning against the doorway.

'You know I'm not a big champion in this whole Lexi-Recovery-Plan,' Damon stated, 'but Elena thinks this place is gonna weaken you up, break you down and make you feel again,' he trailed off.

'We should all listen to Elena, right? I mean her plans always work out so well, don't they?' the brothers were quiet for a moment, as Dahlia decided to make a small comment. 'It seems that everything done around here is for Elena, no?'

Stefan looked at her for a moment, appraising her casual stance. She looked nice today. Her hair looked soft.

Stefan paused, internally questioning the things that people think of when they were locked up. He gathered his thoughts, but continued - 'Why are you here?' he asked, directing the question to Damon. 'And why did she tag along?'

'What are you talking about? It's Family Day at of Vampire Rehab! So, I'm paying a visit to my baby brother,' he said, circling Stefan.

'And I'm just here because I'm a curious soul,' smirked Dahlia. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Stefan, or moved from her spot against the door.

'Plus, she knows everything,' said Damon, staring off into space.

'Go away,' Stefan sighed. He definitely wasn't in the mood for visitors.

'Nahhh. I thought we could hang out, a little brother bonding,' he put his hand on Stefan's shoulder, leaning towards his face, 'How've you been Stef? Huh?'

'You know,' Stefan said quietly, 'Klaus may wanna keep Elena alive, but that doesn't mean she's safe with Rebekah.' He looked up at Damon, eyebrows raised, appraising his reaction. Dahlia had taken to nibbling her thumbnail slightly, glancing over to Damon when he looked up at her.

'Liar, Liar pants on fire, brother. Klaus compelled you to protect Elena, and if you thought for even a _second_ that she was in danger, you'd be working a lot harder.'

Stefan shook his head, a sarcastic smile on his face. 'You got me. You got me!'

'Yep.'

'You got me. You're good. Congratulations! You can go now,' he stated, staring at his brother. Dahlia shook her head.

'You really are hopeless right now, aren't you?' she said softly, her eyes taking in the tortured man before her. Taking a step into the cell, she stood next to Damon for a moment as Damon said something similar.

'You really have given up,' he stated, disappointment lacing his tone slightly.

'Actually, this is my happy face,' Stefan grinned slightly. His head was swaying on his shoulders – he looked drunk, quite frankly.

Damon seemed to consider this for a moment, and Dahlia took a step forward. 'I'd hate you see you looking sad, Stefan,' she joked lightly, walking towards him and breaking the chains on his body. Stefan seemed surprised.

'What are you doing?' questioned Stefan. 'I don't know you.'

Dahlia never had a chance to reply, as Damon answered for her; 'Screw this Lexi-plan. I think we could all use a drink.'

'If we were human, all of our livers would have failed by the time we hit twenty seven years old,' Dahlia deadpanned, holding her hand out for Stefan to take. 'C'mon then, Ripper boy.'

* * *

They arrived at a dingy old dive bar, and Dahlia's nose crinkled. She immediately texted her brothers, telling them to come meet her and give her packup if they knew what was good for them. Her arse had already been pinched twice, and she'd barely been here for ten minutes. Someone _might _accidentally-on-purpose go crashing into that jukebox in a very Charlie's-Angel kind of style, if they didn't leave her alone.

Damon, on the other hand, was being a very observant and _protective_ friend, choosing to ignore Dahlia's case of sexual harassment. He called Elena, instead.

'Hey!' Damon chirped.

Dahlia just about heard Elena's side of the conversation.

'Damon, where are you?' she questioned. She didn't sound happy, poor Elena. She probably couldn't hear Damon properly, with the huge amount of _crap _music playing right now_._

'No idea, but I'm pretty sure I'm overdressed,' he chuckled. 'Still standing?'

'Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now,' she said, frustrated.

'I'll be at the bar,' said Stefan, walking towards the pretty blonde bartender.

'I'm coming with you_uu_~!' sang Dahlia, wrapping an arm around his and dragging him in the direction of a cocktail.

'Is that _Stefan?_ And a _girl?_ Who else are you with?' demanded Elena.

'Yeah, I kinda went off a bit. Don't worry,' Damon tried to reassure her, 'I know what I'm doing. And I'm with Dahlia-' looking up, he saw Chester and Brogan enter the bar, nose creased at the intense smell of alcohol and B.O overwhelming their noses. He sighed slightly and continued, 'As well as Chester and Brogan, apparently.'

'Damon!' snapped Elena, 'How could you let him out? And you barely know the triplets, why are they there?!'

'I've actually known the triplets for about a hundred and thirty years, Elena,' stated Damon casually, and she stayed quiet so he continued, 'I got this, Elena.'

Hanging up, he walked towards his own brother who was rolling his eyes at Dahlia's antics. Damon chuckled, and turned to watch the men approaching the small group.

'Brogan! Chester!' Damon exclaimed. 'The triplets reunited! What are we drinking?'

'Hopefully something a little bit warmer,' said Stefan, eyeing up the bartender, 'And a little bit blonder..' he trailed off, transfixed on her jugular.

Brogan let out a loud laugh, clapping Stefan on the shoulder whilst Chester shook his head. 'Subtlety isn't your strong point it seems, mate.' He commented, holding his hand out for Stefan to shake. Stefan reluctantly did so, as Chester introduced himself – 'I'm Chester, and this is my brother Brogan. Brogan, Dahlia and I are triplets,' he said.

Raising his eyebrows, Stefan looked at the three smiling people before turning away. He didn't care. Ripper Stefan cared about _nothing_.

Except this blonde.

'Hi!' She was sweet, and exaggerating everything she says to give the illusion of happiness. Like butter wouldn't melt.

'Hello,' Damon started, taking note of her nametag before continuing, '..Callie. I would _love_ a shot of your best whiskey, and my brother here would love a shot of _you_.' The triplets observed him as his pupils dilated, compelling her. An interesting way of curbing a blood addict's habits. It's like giving an eighth of a dose of heroin to a lifetime addict, and saying 'that's it', Dahlia thought. How cruel.

Stefan hesitated. 'What's the catch, Damon?'

'No catch, brother. Drink up,' Damon winked, 'It's on me.'

Glancing suspiciously at his companions, Stefan slowly took Callie's wrist and bit her. Damon, in an attempt to his his brother, leaned over slightly. The triplets did the same, as they looked up at Callie with bright smiles on their face.

'Hi, Callie!' Dahlia said, sounding awfully chipper. Callie smiled back in greeting.

'So, when you're done, fancy a game or two?' questioned Brogan.

* * *

Stefan flipped a coin into a glass, and looked up at the group he was with. 'Drink up, ladies.'

Damon, with Callie sat on his lap, turned to her and looked at her neck for just a moment before asking her, 'Can you get us a bottle of this?' holding up an empty whiskey bottle, a seductive smirk on his face. Dahlia rolled her eyes at their antics, before chugging down her own drink. A vodka tonic, this time. Going for something different and all that.

Callie smiled back, before answering with a soft 'Yes, sir' as she stood up and made her way to the bar. She quickly lost the attention of the group, as Damon started to speak again.

'You've been on this 'bunny diet' for the better part of fifty years. So, how is it that 'Saint Stefan, of _all_ people, is good at a drinking game?' Damon questioned, laughing slightly.

'Oh, the 'bunny diet' gave me a lot of time to practice,' Stefan replied, as the group made a noise of understanding. He continued, 'Wallow in despair.'

He flipped a coin into the glass.

'Drown in guilt.'

Another coin.

'Regret my existence.'

And he flipped the final coin into the glass, before finishing his sentence.

'It's precision born out of a tragic boredom. Drink up, folks.'

'All that effort wasted trying to tell you how boring you are, and now you finally agree with me?' Damon said sarcastically, earning a smile from Dahlia.

'Saint Stefan sounds boring, Damon,' she said, 'This one's just a tad bit extreme, though,' she finished, gently observing Stefan under her eyelashes. He smirked at her.

'Damon, you are worse than Elena. Getting me drunk, brotherly bonding - what do you think, I'll break down and you can pull me back from the edge, is that it?' he questioned, leaning towards his brother. The triplets let out a small laugh at this statement.

'You see, Stefan,' Dahlia chimed, 'Being a vampire is all about living on the edge without fear. There's no other satisfying way to live as a vampire.'

Brogan nodded, continuing her point – 'Your problem is that you seem to be dangling from the edge with just a little thread of morality holding you up.'

'You should be on the edge, sweetpea. Only maybe about a foot away, with your feet firmly stable on that edge,' Dahlia said happily, jumping slightly out of her seat.

'And what would you know about the edge, Dahlia?' Stefan challenged. Dahlia's eyes hardened just slightly, without losing the smile on her face.

'When you've been around as long as I have, you notice a lot of things. You learn a lot of things and you go through a lot of things. Just ask Chester, here. The lesson of _Moderation_ and _Less is More_ is a one that perhaps _every_ vampire should follow, including _you._' she said, a slightly sharp edge to her tone. At this point, Callie came back with their whiskey, and Dahlia leaned back into her chair.

'But we aren't here to judge you, mate,' Chester said, chugging down his drink. Brogan _mm'd_ and downed his drink in agreement.

'All three of us have been there.'

'Who are we to judge?' smirked Damon, with Callie nestled comfortably on his lap. He flipped a coin.

'Drink up, brother.'

* * *

A half hour had passed, and Chester and Dahlia were sat at their table with an assorted selection of glasses on their table. They were snickering to each other, occasionally pointing at the other patrons in the bar and snickering a bit more.

Fairly drunk, one could safely assume.

Brogan and Damon, in their similarities, were dancing on the bar with two girls. Stefan, on the other hand, had Callie up against a pillar and was drinking from her neck, giving an illusion of an _intimate_ moment. He had caught the attention of a brunette walking by, who was staring at them with a questioning look in her eyes.

Brogan flashed in front of her, pupils dilating with a saucy grin on his face. Looking into her eyes, he said, 'Nothing to see here, love! Just run along, now.'

She nodded and turned away, as Damon appeared behind Brogan. Taking a look at his own brother, he took Stefan by the shoulders.

'Hey, hey!' he chided, whilst pulling him away, 'Ease up! She's giving us an employee discount.' Looking into her eyes, he continued. 'Now you can run along, too,' he said, tying a scarf around her neck that he took from the brunette as she walked away. Callie nodded silently, and walked back to the bar where Dahlia was.

'Five drinks!' she yelled, falling into a fit of giggles as she stubbed her toe on the footrest going around the bar.

Stefan smirked, and turned to Damon, leaning against the bar. 'Alright!' he started, 'Tell me what's up. What's the point of the jailbreak, hm?'

Dahlia popped up behind him and slung her arm around his shoulders, standing on the tip of her heels. 'We thought you could use a hug! A hug of sexy women and the warm burn of whiskey.'

'Come on,' snorted Stefan. 'Damon, you know Elena's gonna hate you for letting me out and bringing me to a bar with people she doesn't know. And we all know how much you care about what she thinks..' he trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

'Maybe I wanted ro remind you what freedom was like, before Klaus took it from you,' Damon retorted, slightly coldly.

'As long as Klaus is alive, I do what he says,' Stefan stated matter-of-factly. The triplets all rolled their eyes simultaneously. Brogan opened his mouth. 'If only you knew someone who could _uncompel_ you,' he said, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. His siblings laughed.

The Salvatores felt like they were missing something when they looked at the triplets and shook their heads.

'What're you-' Stefan started, before Damon cut him off. 'If they don't tell you straight out, they won't tell you, Stefan. Ignore them.'

Dahlia nodded, before adding on, 'You've given up, love.'

'You could sit around and be his little bitch,' started Brogan.

'Or, you can get mad enough and do something about it,' finished Chester.

'Klaus can't be killed,' Stefan said, looking at the group. Dahlia snorted, before chugging her drink back. Looking up, she raised an eyebrow at the man approaching. 'Oh boy.'

'Maybe I can help with that,' the man said, looking around at the group curiously. 'I'm looking for the Salvatore boys.'

'Mikael,' Damon and Stefan whispered, looking up at the man in front of them. The triplets spared a glance at each other at his appearance.

He noticed it with interest.

* * *

It was with intense stares that the triplets observed the interrogation Mikael was unleashing on Stefan.

'Is Klaus out of the country?' Mikael said.

'I can't tell you.'

'Has he spoken to you since he left?'

'I can't tell you.'

'All right. Can you tell me the last time you spoke to Niklaus?'

'I'm compelled to do what he says, and he says to keep my damn mouth shut.'

'I really hope this game of twenty questions isn't your secret weapon,' sniped Damon. The triplets raised their eyebrows. He's got balls, this guy has.

'You see, Damon,' Mikael said, putting his hand on Damon's shoulder, 'I've been a vampire hunter longer than you've been alive. It's why I found you here. It's why I'm gonna find Niklaus.'

'Well, Klaus has been running for about a thousand years, so if you think you can get a work around here-'

Damon was cut off by Mikael slamming his fist into his chest, grabbing a hold of his heart. Dahlia's eyes widened as she snapped at him.

'You're a fucking idiot, Damon.'

'Careful, Stefan. One move and his heart's gone,' He pushed his hand deeper into Damon's chest, who choked on his breath. 'Now, where is Klaus? What's the trick question, Stefan? One twist, and he's dead.' He paused and considered what he said. 'Unless you don't care, of course.'

'His emotions have been shut off,' gasped Damon, 'He can't care.'

'Really?' Mikael pondered. 'His link to Klaus is so strong, that he will let his own brother die?'

A moment of silence passed, before he continued. His eyes passed over the triplets.

'Any ideas, you lot? No?' He turned back to Stefan. 'Think, Stefan!'

Another moment passed.

'I guess you're right,' Mikael sighed. 'He's a dead end. And so are you, Damon.'

He made a motion to twist his hand in Damon's chest, before Stefan stopped him.

'Wait! I can bring him back. I can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls.' Stefan's jaw was clenching, not removing his eyes from Damon's chest. The triplets each took a sip of their drink as they watched it all unfold.

Mikael pulled his hand out of Damon's chest.

'And there is our loophole. Just had to rile him up a bit. Get Klaus back to Mystic Falls, and I will gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail, I'll drive it through yours.'

He cast a threatening glance at the group, and walked away.

Brogan snorted into his whiskey, muttering a quite '_asshole_' under his breath.

* * *

'Well, that was very interesting,' Brogan stated, making his way out of the bar with the rest of the group trailing behind him. Chester snorted.

'I'll give you ten points for flair,' Damon said, looking at Stefan.

'At least now we know where Klaus and Elijah learnt their tricks from,' Stefan replied.

'So from that statement, I'm guessing that the moral Original has an affinity for loopholes as well?' chimed in Dahlia, and the Salvatore's nodded in response before they continued with their own conversation.

'Don't think you had to wait 'til the last second to have your breakthrough, though,' Damon winced, the events of just a few minutes ago flashing through his mind.

Stefan sighed. 'I didn't have a breakthrough, Damon.'

Damon scrunched up his face. 'Oh, oh! My brother is about to die, and I just had to save his life for the bajillionth time! Careful Stefan, your humanity's showing,' he mocked, grinning at his brother.

'You know what?' Stefan retorted. 'You're right, Damon. You're right. You reminded me what my freedom felt like. And, when we kill Klaus, I'll be free. Free to leave. I didn't do this for you, Damon. I did it for myself.'

He smirked. 'Sure, Stefan. Whatever you say.'

A look of frustration crossed Stefan's face, before he turned and grabbed Damon by the shoulders. Shaking him, he demanded, '_Why_ are you doing this, huh? What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?'

'Because I have to, Stefan!' Damon snapped. 'Because you are in this mess with Klaus because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can't just leave you in a cell to rot.'

'Aw, better be careful, brother, your humanity's showing.

Damon grunted and punched Stefan in the face before kicking him, managing to push him several feet away.

A moment passed.

'So, who's driving?' Chester inquired.

* * *

She knew he would be here. Standing outside the Gilbert household looking up at Elena's window, she could hear Damon talking to Elena.

She knew he would be here.

'I learned, that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too young, and she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her.' Elena was quiet for a while, and Dahlia thought of her words. It made her sad, because she understood. She understood what Rebekah was going through. Elena continued, 'And when it's all said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family.'

Dahlia had a small, sad smile on her face.

'Well, you should tell that to my brother.' She could practically _hear_ his eyeroll.

Elena sighed. 'I'm not mad at you for letting him out, Damon. I think you're gonna be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me,' her voice vaded into a whisper, 'it'll be because he loves you. can I tell you the rest tomorrow?'

Damon's voice was soft. 'Sure.'

Dahlia waited for a while, before she flashed up towards the window. She stood outside the window. It was like she was floating, but she wasn't. It was almost like an invisible ledge was beneath her feet.

'She's right, you know. Rebekah.' Dahlia said softly, as Damon turned around to look at her. His eyebrow was raised in surprise, but she didn't give him a chance to continue. 'Families nowadays are built on shaky foundations and people choose their friends above everything. Back then, though,' her eyes seemed to gaze of into the distance, as she reminisced back to her own childhood, 'Family was all you had. When the crops failed, you had your family. When the storms came, your family was there. Family above all, Damon. If I can teach you anything from my two thousand years alive, it's that. You can never forget that, and you need to understand that when you confront them.'

Her small, sad smile was still on her face and she was a far cry from the bubbly, sarcastic girl she was earlier in the day.

'Don't stare too long, Damon. You'll scare her away.'

She gave him a small wave, before she flashed back home, leaving him to contemplate her words. His eyes widened as her words sunk in.

Two thousand years?

* * *

**AN:**

So, I feel like they're getting more involved as time goes on. Maybe. Please let me know if not, any suggestions/criticisms are welcome. This story will eventually be slightly more AU, although at the moment it's important that it stays with the VD storyline so that the triplets can_ actually_ get involved in their lives at a personal level first. And time to respond to the reviews!:

**Guest 1: **No, this isn't going to be a story where everyone loves Damon and hates Stefan. The triplets met Damon 130 years ago, a pre-Sage Damon. They never met Stefan. At the moment, he's ripper Stefan and he's a bit of an asshole. His relationship with the triplets will evolve as he does - Dahlia doesn't dislike him as her and her brothers have all been through a Ripper phase, but she still thinks he's a bit of a d-bag as of now. In terms of Elena, she's never going to be close to Elena because I don't like her either and it seems like Elena is a huge instigator for the _bad_ events of Mystic Falls, and Dahlia will pick up on that as a third-party observer. I don't see her being openly against Elena, however. Not yet anyways.

**Guest 2: **In terms of their abilities, I've taken several elements from both VD and outside sources to twist them into their own _unique_ creature. Chapter one tells you that the triplets did in fact die, whilst Rason survives. He's dead now, though, but his death is absolutely crucial to the story of the triplets. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to bring Rason back, but he is the reason as to why they are the way they are now. What Rason did to bring them back to life will have huge effects on what their abilities are as vampires. (I also used creatures in anime's as inspiration and twisted them so that they fit into this story. Lol. Don't judge me please. That'll be explained later on.) As for their witchy vibes, you're absolutely right, they're Expression witches. I took inspiration from what Shane said about Expression - that it's a neutral source of power - and the fact that witches often outcast those who use Expression, therefore creating a very _low_ population of Expression witches - and turned it into a big loophole in nature. As they aren't nature's servants, they retain their witchyness even after the Immortality spell. Think of it as a big, gaping loophole. Thank you for your review. :D

**My other reviewers:  
**I hope you still find it interesting! :3 Thank you for your reviews.

**Review/Favourite/Follow/PM!  
**It's lovely waking up to Reviews. n.n

Outfits (all on Polyvore):

Dahlia's outfit at the Cell & the Dive Bar:  
dahlias_dive_bar_outfit_chapter/set?id=123735126

Chester's Dive Bar outfit:  
chesters_dive_bar_outfit_chapter/set?id=123735454

Brogan's Dive Bar outfit:  
brogans_dive_bar_outfit_chapter/set?id=123735268

**I forgot to state: I don't own VD. I don't own anything you recognise, only my ideas and my triplets. I don't own the music in the soundtrack behind this story, either. This story has also never been beta'd, so please inform me of any mistakes that may bug you. xD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Music:**

**Evil Beauty - Blackmill (Rebekah & Dahlia talking)**

**This is War – 30 Seconds To Mars (Dahlia, Stefan & Klaus)**

**Missing (Piano Instrumental) - Evanescence (the final confrontation)**

* * *

Dahlia lay across the lap of her brothers as they lounged in the Salvatore Boarding house, watching Stefan's conversation with Klaus. At the back of their minds, they vaguely comprehended that, just by being present whilst this is happening, they were getting very much involved in business that they probably _shouldn't_ be involved in.

Oh well. The phrase YOLO flashed through Dahlia's mind, and she giggled to herself. Brogan looked down at her, and smirked – he could pretty much predict what she was thinking after a thousand years by her side, and he definitely knew just how immature she could be. She easily proved this with what she was doing currently - she had a pool cue in her hand, and was busy poking Mikael's daggered corpse. It was nice to see that prick dessicated, if only just for a few minutes. Nevertheless, from what they heard of Stefan and Klaus' conversation, the plan was apparently working.

Looking up at Rebekah, Dahlia gave her a small, encouraging smile as she saw how hard she was trying not to break down. After the events of the day, Dahlia was surprised she hadn't crumpled to her knees in front of everyone.

Rebekah's strength was admirable, even if others didn't see it.

She was nice, too. She did smile back at Dahlia after all, before she took the phone from Stefan.

* * *

**_An Hour Ago_**

'Aye- let's say that Mikael followed Elena in here. He tried to grab her, so he could use her as bait,' Stefan said.

'And you what? Vervained him?' enquired Elena. She sounded skeptical.

'No!' Damon scoffed, 'WE vervained him! This guy is an original. We need to make it realistic.'

The sound of the front door opening and closing caught the attention of the house's inhabitants. The triplets strolled through the door. Chester had two bottles of vintage whiskey in his hand, Brogan was holding onto a cooler and Dahlia had two takeout bags in her hands. Noticing the questioning stares of the occupants, they smiled brightly.

'We brought blood, alcohol, sushi and Thai food!' Dahlia stated happily, putting the bags down on the table. 'Well, the sushi's mine. The rest of you can have Thai food.' Chester and Brogan proceeded to place their respective loads onto the table next to Dahlia's food.

Stefan raised an eyebrow, but turned his attention back to Damon.

'Okay, fine. _We_ vervained him, and in the process, we discovered that he had a dagger.'

'Which he planned to use on Rebekah, but instead..' Elena trailed off.

'We drove it through his heart,' Stefan finished.

'And what happens when he asks to see Mikael's body?'

'Oh!' Dahlia interrupted. 'Is this the big, 'Let's lure Klaus to Mystic Falls so we can kill him!' plan?'

'Yes, Dahlia!' Damon replied dramatically, looking at her briefly before he deadpanned. 'And you're interrupting.'

She raised an eyebrow, and gave him a dangerous look.

'Elena has a good point!' continued Damon, ignoring the burning stare of death on his back. 'You, my brother, have been compelled to do what Klaus says. So the idea is to lure him back here and kill him – last thing we need is you getting tripped up and tongue-tied.'

'Well, don't look at me. I'm just in charge of getting him back here,' Stefan stated nonchalantly. 'Maybe the triplets can actually _help._'

'Why would we want Klaus dead?' Chester questioned, and Brogan nodded in agreement. The group looked at them with raised eyebrows.

'Why _wouldn't_ you?' chided Damon.

Dahlia shook her head. 'Well, you all just want to kill him out of fear and revenge, no? We have absolutely no feelings towards Klaus either way. We've been around for a long time, and not once has he caused a problem for us,' she said matter-of-factly.

Damon raised an eyebrow, remembering his encounter with Dahlia from the night previous. 'Yeah, about that-'

'I will tell you when we can discuss that, Damon, but not now,' snapped Dahlia, giving him a hard look. She knew Mikael was here – there was only so much that could be said before they were under the scrutinising glare of the Originals. She received an equally hard look in return. 'Right now, you need to look for the loophole in Klaus' compulsion, because knowing his reputation, he will _definitely_ want proof. And the only way to honestly tell him that, Stefan, is by watching Mikael die.'

'Then I shall be dead,' Mikael said, walking into the room. Looking at the triplets, he analysed them, and were surprised to see that none of them wavered under his gaze. 'You're a clever one, Miss..?'

'Lennox,' she replied coldly, looking into his eyes. By this point, she had sat up and nestled herself between her brothers, both of which had their arms around her and were staring at Mikael with heated gazes.

'I don't seem to have come across you and your family before. It's not often that vampiric siblings stick together without conflict,' Mikael commented.

'Mm, debatable,' Chester replied, before looking towards Stefan, Damon and Elena. They were watching the exchange with slight curiosity, but said nothing. He gestured for them to continue. 'As you were.'

Elena shook her head and turned to Mikael. 'What if he wants to see you in person?'

'Well,' he replied, 'That means our plan is working. Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here – and I will kill him.'

'With what?' Stefan rolled his eyes. 'Those daggers don't work on him.'

'Well, I'm in possession of a stake fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree,' he pulled the lid off of a small jar containing white ash, after unrolling a small bolt of cloth to reveal a skinny silver dagger. 'The one that left these ashes when it burned.'

'Where is it?' Stefan enquired. Hah, idiot, Dahlia thought. If he gives you that you'll never undagger him.

Mikael seemed to be thinking of things along the same lines. 'Not here. The knowing of it's location is my insurance policy.'

'Against what?' Stefan pressed on.

'You leaving this in my heart. You see, a vampire can't dagger an original without dying,' he turned to Elena, 'So, it falls to you.' He held out the dagger to her, as she looked on in slight fear.

'Y-you want me to _actually_ dagger you?' Elena stuttered.

'Do you really think that a paranoid man like Klaus would leave anything to chance, Elena?' Dahlia asked, eyebrow raised in question. Elena turned to her. 'He won't let you play with his trust lightly. So go on, grow a pair and stab him.'

* * *

**_The Present Moment_**

Rebekah held the phone to hear ear, speaking to her brother. Dahlia picked up on the tone of disbelief and suspicion in Klaus' voice, which faded gradually the more he spoke to Rebekah. Soon enough, she hung up the phone and handed it back to Stefan.

'He bought it. He's coming back home.'

Elena sighed, before she leaned over Mikael's body. 'Let's just get this over with,' she said, as she pulled the dagger out of his chest.

It was quiet for just a moment as Rebekah stared at the dessicated body of her father. Brogan, in a pitying mood, nudged Dahlia towards her. She turned back to her brother and glared at him slightly, before making her way to the Japanese food she had in the bag as well as the whiskey on the table. Taking a few blood bags out of the cooler, she looked at Rebekah with a soft smile on her face.

'You look like you need alcohol, girly chats and good takeout. Fancy a little girl's evening?' Dahlia smiled, holding up her goodies. Rebekah smiled softly and nodded. Dahlia responded with a bright grin, as she turned to the rest of the people in the room.

'Well, what're you lot waiting for?' she snapped as they all stared at her. 'Take the food and get out. We're commandeering this room.'

'Where the fuck are we supposed to go?' Brogan laughed, standing up. Best not to argue with her.

'I don't know, take them to ours or go upstairs and do some kind of Klaus-related-planning. I don't care. Piss off.'

The men walked out, taking their food with them. and Elena stayed for just a moment, unsure if the invitation of a girl's evening extended to her as well. Dahlia shook her head, and Elena looked slightly offended.

'You're the one instigating the plan to kill this girl's brother. She needs this more than you, so you're not invited. Shoo,' Dahlia dismissed her, much to the amusement of Rebekah who allowed the smallest spark of amusement reach her eyes. Elena, on the other hand, huffed slightly and walked out with the intent to find Damon.

'So, had any Japanese food since you've been undaggered?' Dahlia questioned flamboyantly as she sat down on an armchair, food and alcohol cradled in her lap. Rebekah shook her head and sat down on a chair next to her. She made a noise of disbelief, before pulling out several boxes of sushi as well as a couple of bento boxes, shoving half of her food in Rebekah's face.

'Eat.'

* * *

The food was gone, and the alcohol was down by a bottle and a half. A couple of empty bloodbags were on the table, where they had decided to make whiskey with blood mixers. Dahlia, in a very organised way, had begun looking into various cupboards around the room looking for more booze. They were nowhere near drunk enough yet. Rebekah leaned her head back in her own armchair, feeling very satisfied with the meal she just had.

'I understand, y'know,' Dahlia said softly, her voice slightly slurred. She found a lovely stock of vintage wine, and pulled out a couple of glasses as well as a bottle in preparation for when they ran out of whiskey. She continued when she noticed Rebekah looking at her questioningly. 'I understand the whole family thing. Me and you? I don't think we're too different.' She sashayed her way back to her own chair, plonking her findings on the table.

Rebekah looked at her, as if imploring her to carry on. So she did.

'Well, I only know what those cave drawings told me. I was born a long time ago,' Dahlia said, her eyes staring into the distance, 'My parents were very much in love. Rare, I suppose, when you think about what marriage was back then. We lived on our own land quietly, and minded our own business, so it didn't matter so much I suppose. We didn't really have anyone to voice negative opinions to us.  
'They had four children. Rason, my older brother, as well as Brogan, Chester and I. He was seven years older than us triplets, so he looked after us a lot. My parents often worked on the land around us, so he was in charge of us a lot of the time. I loved him a lot. I love _all_ of my brothers more than my own life, and I would do anything for them. But, like you, I was the only girl.' Dahlia paused, smirking at Rebekah. A silent understanding passed between them. They both knew how it felt to be the only girl in a time where masculinity ruled above else. Nevertheless, she continued.  
'We were a happy family, even by today's standards. Our parents loved us, and we all loved each other very, very much. When I was fifteen, though, they died. Nothing too violent or out of the ordinary, mind you – they were sick. It still amazes me that, to this day, the sickness managed to travel to our patch of land. We were very out of the way of everyone, and we never had visitors. I remember not feeling very sad, though. Back then, you were _extremely_ lucky to reach the age of forty.' Dahlia chuckled softly.  
'This meant that Rason had to look after us as well as work the land. We tried to help as much as we could, but as a girl, there was only so much I was allowed to do back then. Even as much as my brothers needed help, they never let me do much other than look after the house. So that's what I did.  
'Before any of us were born, my family were cast out of the local community because my family practiced Expression. To this day, I firmly believe that Expression magic is simply the manifestation of one's will – extremely dangerous if used by the wrong person, but the power source itself is a neutral power and can be bent to both good and evil, depending on who uses it. My brother, Rason, was a very powerful Expressionist. He was much better than we were as his powers manifested much earlier than ours and he had practiced it for over a decade, so he was in charge of making sure we were under protection from the children of the moon that would, on rare occasions, breach the limits of our lands and head towards our home.  
'There was never more than just one wolf there at a time, because we were so distant from everyone else. We grew up in England, where the days in winter were very short and nights very long. The wolves would, therefore, _be_ wolves for much longer and transform earlier than they would somewhere like Mystic Falls, for example. One month, it had been storming all day and it was impossible to tell what time of day it was. The sun never came out that day, and we lost track of time. That stupid mistake would change everything for us - we ran out of time to put up protection against the wolves.  
'Rason realised this, and he ran outside to put up the necessary barriers and blocks for us. But it was too late. I remember how it felt, losing sight of Rason in the rain and only catching glimpses of the outside as lightning struck. I remember how it felt when we saw a wolf come crashing through our doorway, and I remember the pain I felt when he tore me and my twin brothers apart.'

Rebekah's eyes were wide open. 'You died?' she questioned in shock.

Dahlia nodded, a sad smile on her face. 'I died. He bit down on my arm and crushed the bone before he tore it from my body. Then, he did that with my right leg and, finally, to my head. He decapitated me,' she recalled.

'Didn't you say your family were Expressionists?' Rebekah whispered, and Dahlia nodded in confirmation. Anticipating Rebekah's question, she answered it before it could be asked.

'My brothers and I were eighteen years old when we were killed. Our powers had only manifested two years before, and it was difficult to maintain the necessary control over such powerful magic. Plus, we were scared to death,' Dahlia chuckled lightly, 'We all just.. froze. I remember feeling this strange, out-of-body experience and I watched him do the same to my brothers – Brogan first, then Chester. I remember him howling once he had killed us all, and I remember him tearing the limbs from our bodies even though we were already dead. We were, quite literally, in pieces.  
'I remember the wolf collapsing. Rason had appeared by the door, with the most heartbroken look on his face. It still haunts me to this day,' Dahlia said softly, taking a breath to calm her trembling nerves. She reached over to the bottle of wine and downed at least a quarter of it before she continued, with Rebekah looking on in slight awe. Sometime during the story, the whiskey had been finished. Gesturing to the bottle, Dahlia asked a silent question and Rebekah nodded. Dahlia poured a large glass for her before she continued. She didn't bother pouring her own into a glass.  
'He blew it up. The sheer anger on his face was absolutely insane – I could almost see the fire burning in his eyes as the wolf crumpled and started choking up blood, before he exploded. There were no in-tact organs or anything left – simply a bloody mess with lots of gooey parts. It was absolutely disgusting, but he was dead.  
'Then, I remember Rason coming towards us. Our heads were lay on the floor looking at him, and Rason stared on. His expression never changed, but he lifted his hands up towards us, and we started joining back together again.  
'Rason was, like your brother, a paranoid man. With all of the responsibility on his shoulders, he had a huge fear of failing us and our deceased parents. So, every day, he slipped the necessary herbs and ingredients to a resurrection spell in our food, so that if anything like this happened, we would be able to come back. And we did. I watched as our body parts conjoined together again, and I remember the feeling of my soul being sucked back into my body.'

'What?' Rebekah gasped.

Dahlia nodded. 'Mm, I know. Things would be very different if Rason wasn't so paranoid,' she pondered. 'But, I digress. That was the night that I died. Not too long after that, I lost my eldest brother as he attempted to find a way to ensure our safety – hence, us being turned into vampires. He died not long after that. Rase, I mean.'

The girls were quiet for a while after that. Rebekah was busy trying to process the story she had just heard, and Dahlia looked on in slight amusement. She drank some more.

'What happened next?' Rebekah asked.

'Well, I can see that I've turned your brain into mush,' Dahlia laughed, 'So maybe we should save it for another day. But that's what I mean, you and I. Our families were torn apart, in one way or another, by werewolves. The reason as to why we chose to become vampires were noble enough, and we had our families with us through the most life-changing period of our existence. I just hope that you've thought this through,' her face turned more serious. 'You stuck by your brother for a thousand years for a reason, even if he did dagger you. You need to remember that, Rebekah. Your family shares the same philosophy as mine – family above all. And, like myself, you would destroy anything that got in the way of that.'

Rebekah didn't know what to say. She just looked on at Dahlia, who sounded so much older than she looked and her eyes held a glimmer of admiration for the girl in front of her. She was a vampire, just like she was, and yet, she didn't hold half as many negative qualities as Rebekah did.

Dahlia smiled at her new friend, before sloppily leaning over and giving Rebekah a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

'Just be careful, and you'll be okay,' she said. 'I'll see you tomorrow at the dance.'

With that, she stood up and took her things in her hands. Waving slightly at Rebekah, she walked out of the Salvatore Boarding House. As she left, she looked up and watched Damon munching on a prawn cracker on top of the stairs, having heard every word she said.

'I'll talk to you when this whole Mikael thing has died down,' she murmured.

He simply nodded as she walked away.

* * *

Dahlia had made her way to the boarding house the next morning to see Rebekah when she walked in on something _very_ interesting.

Like the sight of Rebekah lying face down on the floor, in the process of being covered by a blanket by the ever so charming Damon Salvatore.

Leaning against the doorway, she raised her eyebrows.

'You are a sly little twat aren't you?' Dahlia deadpanned. 'I'm witnessing a mini-Katherine moment here, it seems.'

The occupants of the room turned around to her, shocked to see Dahlia there. She was leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised dangerously close to her hairline. The pursed her lips and let out a sigh.

'You just had to, _literally_, stab her in the back, didn't you?' she sighed. 'You know that, even if you manage to kill her brother, if she ever wakes up then she's going to be after you for the rest of your natural, or unnatural life.'

'I had to do it, Dahlia. Rebekah would've-' Elena stuttered, eyes wide. She was caught.

'Save it,' Dahlia snapped. 'I'm struggling to care. Your contingency plan is absolute _shite_, and your excuses are even worse. I hope you know that.' She turned on her heel, and walked away.

'That's not my contingency plan, Dahlia.' Damon shouted afterwards, as she made her way down the stairs. Rolling her eyes slightly, she caught sight of the woman just making her way through the front door and her eyebrows raised in amusement.

'Katarina,' Dahlia laughed.

'Dahlia?' Katherine choked out, before bracing herself to run.

'Oh, don't worry yourself, love,' Dahlia dismissed her. 'You have fun at the dance, alright?'

She started to make her way out towards her car.

Not without casting a slightly threatening look at Katherine first, who looked like a very pretty deer caught in headlights.

As she shut the door, she vaguely heard Damon begin to question Katherine.

'You know her?'

* * *

Dahlia entered the back garden of the Lockwood mansion just as a handsome blonde man stood onto the stage.

'Good evening, everyone! I wanna thank you all for being here with me to celebrate. It's been a long time coming,' he announced to the crowd, receiving huge cheers as he did so. Dahlia raised an eyebrow as she observed him further. A flicker of recognition flashed in her eyes, as she remembered seeing him around on rare occasions throughout the last thousand years. She could see the resemblance between him and his sister too, just ever so slightly.

I found the badass hybrid, she thought, as she raised her cup to her mouth.

* * *

Dodging the occasional fistpumping teenager, Dahlia made her way towards Stefan who was now speaking to Klaus. Behind them, she saw Elena – _cough_ _Katherine_ – staring at them. Subtle.

She shook her head and downed her drink before grabbing a full can from a drunk football player, continuing to walk towards the two men.

'Quite the Homecoming,' Stefan commented, glancing around at the people in attendance.

'I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years. Granted, in no version of it were any of these people invited, but you get the idea,' he had the closest thing a paranoid, powerhungry, insecure male could have on their face remotely resembling a happy expression. In this case, it was a (very large) satisfied smirk.

'So what now? Stop running?' Stefan asked, his gaze falling onto Klaus.

'Hm- now, I reunite my family.'

'Your family,' Stefan paused. 'You mean the people you cart around in caskets.'

Klaus dismissed him. 'None of that matters anymore. Mikael is gone, bygones will be bygones.' He took a moment to observe the Homecoming Queen walk by. 'It seems the Homecoming Queen still walks among the living which leads me to believe that Rebekah isn't here.' His gazed hardened. 'Where is she?'

'I have no idea. I thought she was coming with Matt.'

Klaus' voice held every hint of a warning, as he asked again. 'Oh, be honest now, Stefan. Where is my sister?'

'I said,' Stefan replied defiantly, 'I have _no idea_.'

Dahlia approached them, wrapping her arm around Stefan's. He raised an eyebrow in question, as Klaus took in her appearance.

'And who might you be?' he smirked. 'I don't have much time available right now, love, but I might make an exception for you.'

'I'm Dahlia. Charmed, I'm sure,' she rolled her eyes before staring up at Klaus with a confident, threatening stare. 'He's telling the truth, y'know. But you already knew that, seeing as Stefan's your little ripper bitch toy. And who the shit carts their family around in _caskets?_ That's fucked up, mate.'

'Dahlia, do you ever shut up?' Stefan snapped.

She smiled up at him before tightening her hold on his arm, snapping several bones in the process. Stefan's eyes widened as he choked out a gasp of pain, and Klaus looked on in curiosity. 'Don't be rude to your elders, Stefan. I believe you have a body to deliver.'

'Only if he agrees to free me from his compulsion,' Stefan growled as he felt the pain of his bones snapping back into place.

Klaus looked Stefan in the eye, giving him a small smile. 'Oh, you want your freedom,' he seemed to contemplate this for a moment. 'Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed, you can have your freedom. It'll be my pleasure to give it back.'

'Great!' Dahlia chirped, grabbing onto Stefan's bad arm for just a moment longer. He snarled at her as she pushed him away.

'Now go, Ripper Boy, shoo. I have friends to make.'

Turning to Klaus, she gave him a small, patronising grin as he appraised her. He was actually quite sexy, she thought. She didn't need to know that he was thinking the same thing.

'A pretty girl like you, dateless?' Klaus said, voice laced in curiosity.

Her face scrunched up. 'Oh, no. Kind of. I was supposed to come with my brothers, but they said I took too long and left without me like the wankers that they are. They're over there, look. Grinding on a couple of your hybrids.' She gestured towards the edge of the stage, where her brothers were very happily grinding against a couple of girls who looked ready to do the slutdrop. Dahlia let out a laugh. 'I think they're slacking off guard duty.'

'And what's so funny?'

'Chester had a few too many G&T's, I think. He only turns into a raging sexual predator when he drinks too much gin,' she chuckled, before looking back at Klaus who had only taken his attention off of her for a moment.

'And what brings a girl like you to Mystic Falls, may I ask?' Klaus questioned, his usual smirk gracing his face. She returned his look, pulling her hair to one side.

'Oh, y'know. Sentimental reasons. It's not nice for you to turn people into slave puppets, mate, you know that don't you?' she laughed, never taking her eyes off of his.

'Well, there's no better way to get things done these days,' Klaus retorted, a glimmer in his eye. This girl was interesting. 'Do you know who I am?'

'As a matter of fact, I do!' she said sarcastically. 'You're big frightening hybrid man that apparently has this town scared _shitless_. I've heard loads of stories about you,' she paused. 'I don't buy it.'

Klaus raised a brow. 'Oh, you don't buy what, love?'

She took a big gulp from her drink before she answered, whilst Klaus looked on in amusement. 'Might want to go easy on the drinks there, sweetheart. You don't look like someone who can handle their drink.'

Giving him a small glare, she rolled her eyes at him. 'Why, because I'm a midget? Well, _love_, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, should you?' She gulped down the rest of her beer. 'And I mean the whole big scary hybrid man thing. Every creature has a weakness, you know that.'

His face quickly contorted into a glare. 'What do you know of _my weakness_, sweetheart?' he snapped.

She laughed, and raised her hands passively. 'Hey, pal, I'm just the innocent third party observer. You shouldn't assume things, it's bad for you.'

Dahlia placed a hand on his shoulder, before turning around and walking away. Glancing back, she chuckled slightly at his enraged face. 'See you around, hun!'

With that, she headed into the huge crowd of hybrids before her, some of which were eyeing her up suspiciously.

* * *

'Katherine,' her tone was firm and slightly cold, albeit quiet. There were many prying ears at this party, and she knew it. That's why she leaned right into Katherine's ear as she spoke, enjoying the startled jump from the brunette vampire.

'What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in about four hundred years,' Katherine whisper-yelled, when a thought seemed to hit her. 'Is Chester here?'

Dahlia grinned slightly, pointing to the edge of the stage where Chester was groping a couple of very willing blondes. Katherine's eyes widened.

'Looks like you didn't break him after all, sweetheart,' Dahlia laughed, throwing her arm over Katherine's shoulders carelessly, pulling her down roughly to her level. Katherine squirmed in discomfort.

'You know, I never got back at you for what you did. But I guess I won't have to, now that you've got yourself all mixed up in this town, and you've lost the man you loved the most to your arch nemesis and your doppelganger. That's a pretty shit bed to sleep in,' Dahlia paused as a sinister smile creeped up on her face, 'But, maybe you'll get yourself killed within the next ten years. I'd be very surprised if you didn't but hey. If you don't, I'll find you. And I'll let you know that I'm watching you, this time.'

Katherine's head snapped towards Dahlia, who released her. 'Your favourite Original's approaching, dear Elena! I shall make my exit.'

Dahlia bowed dramatically at Katherine and tipped an imaginary hat towards Klaus, leaving the two in peace. She might join her brothers.

* * *

Dahlia took the hands of her brothers and dragged them back inside.

'Dahlia, what the fuck-' Brogan whined.

'Mikael's gonna be here any minute. Do you want to miss the show or not?'

The boys quietened down and followed their sister slightly more willingly.

Standing in the foyer, the triplets each had a tumbler in hand. Dahlia watched Klaus' face transform as his hybrid informed him of his visitor. Gesturing towards her brothers, they quickly flashed their way outside before the hybrids pushed everyone into the back.

'Where's the popcorn?' Brogan chimed, and Chester smacked him in the head. 'Ow! Tit.'

Mikael was stood on the porch when Klaus opened the door. With a dismissive eye, he caught the triplets watching the show. Choking down a growl, he fought the urge to tell them to leave. He had Mikael to deal with right now, they could come second.

'Hello, Niklaus.'

'Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right. I forgot you can't,' Klaus sneered. Dahlia felt a surge of pity in her heart. She could see him trying to swallow down the fear of his father. She had definitely found his weakness, and it was with a pang of sadness that she realised that they both shared similarities. Their love of their family would always be the thing that was their greatest strength as well as greatest pitfall.

A few moments went by when she vaguely registered hybrids surrounding them. One grabbed onto her arm tightly, and she let out a low growl under her breath. _Asshole._

'They can be compelled by me,' she heard Mikael say, an air of smugness in his voice. Brogan cut in before she could say anything.

'And where in the big picture does it say that you compel hybrids to hold on to _us,_ dear Mikael?' Brogan snapped, glaring disgustedly at the hand holding onto his arm.

Mikael turned towards them, disdain in his face. 'You see, I remember you three from somewhere – from a long time ago, most likely – but I cannot remember from _where_. I simply do not want you three to get in the way.'

Chester raised his eyebrows as Dahlia crushed the tumbler in her hand in annoyance. 'You seriously didn't just hear us talking about popcorn for the show? And you think we're a threat? You're are the world's _worst_ vampire hunter.'

'Yet, my instincts still tell me that something is off with you three. No matter, I'll get to you after I've killed my son.' Taking a hold of Elena _cough Katherine cough_, he turned back to Klaus. Dahlia quickly looked up at Chester, whose face remained impassive when he caught sight of his ex-flame. She didn't have time to think about it now, so she turned back to Mikael.

'Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or she dies.'

'Go ahead. Kill her.'

Dahlia noticed with slight surprise that the fear in Katherine's face was genuine as she looked pleadingly at Klaus. 'No, Klaus, he'll do it!'

'If she dies, this lot will be the _last_ of your abominations,' stated Mikael, staring intently at his son.

'I don't need them,' he whispered, 'I just need to be rid of you.'

'To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy!' Mikael spat. 'What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one.'

The triplets stood there with raised eyebrows, as Dahlia fought the bubbling rage building inside of her. Klaus was no angel, but _nobody_ deserved to be spoken to like that by their family.

Klaus' gaze hardened. Dahlia could see how deep Mikael's words had cut him. 'I'm calling your bluff, father. Kill her.'

'Come outside and face me, you coward. And I won't have to.'

At this point, any semblance of control he had over his emotions seemed to dissipate the more he spoke. 'My whole life you've underestimated me,' he snapped. 'If you kill her, you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her.' Dahlia's heart softened when she heard the brokenness behind his voice as he roared, 'Kill her!'

Mikael laughed at his son. Patronising bastard, the triplets thought, gazes set on the vampire hunter. They showed no emotion.

'Your impulse, Niklaus,' Mikael smirked. 'It has, and will forever, be the one thing that keeps you from being truly great.' With that, he stabbed Katherine.

Everything moved quickly then. Damon flashed behind Klaus, pulled him around and stabbed him in the stomach as Katherine got up from the floor and Mikael stared on in disbelief.

The triplets turned around and swiftly punched the hybrids in their faces. The force behind the punches took their heads clean off, going unnoticed by the other ones who had just been bombed with wolfsbane solution. The twins flitted towards Mikael, a brother grabbing hold of each arm whilst Dahlia attached herself to his neck and held onto the sides of his head.

'If you couldn't detect the fact that the supposed _human_ in your arms was actually _vampire_, then you really do deserve the title of the worst vampire hunter in the history of time,' Brogan sneered.

Without warning, Klaus flashed in front of them and stabbed Mikael in the heart, whilst Dahlia pulled off his head and the brothers removed each of his arms.

It looked like a very sick sacrificial ritual, and the triplets looked on as Mikael's mutilated body dessicated before their eyes.

'Fucking wanker,' Brogan muttered.

'What the hell did you do?!' Damon yelled, staring at Stefan.

Klaus slowly turned around and looked at the younger Salvatore, tears in his eyes. 'He's earned his freedom.' Taking a deep breath, Klaus continued. 'Thank you, my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free.'

Looking into the foyer, the triplets noticed that Damon had gone. Stefan and Klaus turned to the triplets who were covered in surprisingly little blood. They simply shrugged as Dahlia tried to think of a satisfactory answer to their question.

'He tried to drain us in the fourteen hundreds,' she said. 'He deserved it.'

**AN:**

Now I know that's not quite the end of the episode, but I felt like the involvement of the triplets should end there.

Although I've posted five updates in the last two days, I can almost guarantee that updates may not come this fast in the coming weeks. My last exam is on friday, so perhaps I'll be able to write more then. A chapter takes me no less than five hours, though - so please forgive me if I can't post as often.

**Guest:** I didn't feel like its as a good idea for Dahlia to reveal her age to Rebekah just yet. The Originals are all insanely paranoid, and it would've just caused problems that would need addressing which didn't fit in with this chapter. I hope that the chat between Dahlia and Rebekah helps the background of the triplets make a little more sense. I do, however, plan on sitting both Dahlia and Damon down in the next chapter at some point to make things clear. It would be difficult though in the perspective of the character to put _everything_ out on the table, after 2000 years of secrecy. I also chose 2000 years as an important point, as there was no Other Side back then. Pre-Silas. ;)

Thank you for the reviews. Keep them coming, and let me know of any questions. I like answering them. :3

As for my Polyvore activities, I don't think I can be bothered really to find outfits for Brogan and Chester. They're a bit like Damon in that they wear pretty similar things each day (Chester's more into jeans and cardigans, a slightly 'nerd chic' style whilst Brogan prefers leather, beanies, and a slightly more alternative look), but I like finding outfits for Dahlia. She's slightly more diverse in her clothing options, if you can't already tell.

I've also been PM'd about Dahlia's piercings - she's going through a phase, so at the moment she has both nostrils pierced (a small ring in one and a small diamond stud in the other), a banana bar in her septum, venom bites on her tongue, her tongue web pierced twice, several in her cartilage such as rook, snug, tragus etc and the first set of lobe piercings stretched to 10mm, nipple piercings and her belly pierced twice. This may or may not change, hah. In my mind, I like how different her looks and outfits can be when she wears piercings.

PS: I borrowed Lily Collins' face as the face of Dahlia, and Joshua Brown as Brogan & Chester. Enjoy!

**Review/Follow/Favourite/PM!**

Outfits (Polyvore):

Dahlia's Boarding House outfit (with Rebekah):  
dahlias_boarding_house_outfit_chapter/set?id=123770173

Dahlia's Boarding House outfit (with Damon/Elena):  
dahlias_boarding_house_outfit_number/set?id=123787327

Dahlia's Homecoming outfit:  
dahlias_homecoming_outfit_chapter/set?id=123775807


	6. Chapter 6

**Music:**

******Wouldn't It Be Good If It Was True (Jernalism Remix) – CoMa ****(The Grill)**  
My Understandings (Piano Cover) - Of Mice & Men **(Rason's Grave & Klaus' Mansion)****  
**

* * *

'So, you heard everything I told Rebekah,' Dahlia stated, taking a sip from her drink. Her ankles were crossed together and she balanced the heels of her feet on the heels of her shoes, looking at Damon as she did so. Brogan and Chester sat on either side of her as they stared on at Damon intently.

Damon's gaze was neutral, looking on at his old friends. They never answered his questions about them before, but it was time to now.

Finally.

'Who exactly are you?' Damon asked, never moving his eyes from the siblings.

'I'm Brogan Ezra Lennox. This is my sister, Dahlia Eden Lennox and my other brother, Chester Flynn Lennox, born to parents Cato Lennox and Maeve Lennox in 135BC.' Brogan answered, grabbing the menu and having a quick glance through.

Damon raised his eyebrows. 'Wait, so, how are you not_ dead_?' he asked, 'You're older than the Originals?'

'It's a very long story,' Dahlia sighed, 'but you heard some of it the other night.'

'You didn't tell Barbie Klaus your actual age though..?' he trailed off.

Dahlia smirked and shook her head. 'I thought you were smart, Damon. You know, of all people, that the Originals attack now and ask questions later. They've thought that they are the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world for the last thousand years. If all of a sudden they heard of people that have been around more than _double_ the time that they have, what do you think they would do? We're a threat. If they were to find out, it would have to be on _our_ terms.'

'And you couldn't of told us this _earlier?_' Damon sniped, eyebrow raised. 'You know, when we needed a weapon to _kill an original_?'

Chester sighed. 'We could kill an Original if we wanted to. We could _compel_ an Original, if we wanted to. But we don't.'

'Excuse me?'

Dahlia took over. 'Y'see, Damon, we've kept our existence almost in total secrecy for the last two thousand years. Very few witches even know that we're alive, because we were created before the Other Side was. We have had no problems or issues with the Originals for the last thousand years, and we won't do unless they give us a reason to.' Damon opened his mouth to argue, but Dahlia silenced him. 'The only reason why you feel the need to go up against the Originals is to protect Elena, and now, your brother as well. From our perspective, that's not worth giving up two millennia of secret-keeping.  
'If we were to openly fight against the Originals, it would be on _our_ terms for _our_ reasons alone. We could take them down, easily, but we choose not to as the consequences just aren't worth dirtying our hands for.'

'That's a load of crap,' Damon frowned. Dahlia simply shrugged at him.

'Our methods have kept us in the dark for the last two thousand years. It's not our problem if you don't agree with them, Day.'

He stayed quiet for a few moments.

'So what actually are you?'

'We are, for all intents and purposes, jacked up vampires,' Brogan chuckled. Chester continued on by saying, 'We were created with a version of an Immortality spell.'

'But what makes you different? Can you make other vampires?' Damon pressed, his curiosity peaked.

Dahlia paused. 'I guess so. We've never actually tried.'

'What?'

'We've never had a reason to.'

'Did you need one?'

'We were keeping our existence secret, Damon. If vampires started popping up, that would raise suspicion would it not? Pay attention.' Chester drawled.

Dahlia laughed. 'Other than that, we're quite similar. The differences include the ability to walk in the sun. When Chester performed the immortality spell, he didn't call upon the sun for life. He called upon Expression energy, which is an endless amount of neutral magic that can be made into whatever the witch or warlock wants it to be. White oak has no effect on us, as it wasn't one of the required ingredients for the spell. And the spell was bound together using my brother, Rason's, blood.'

'The one that resurrected you?'

The triplets nodded. Chester continued the story.

'After we were resurrected, we were still human. Rason spent the next month drawing up an immortality spell for us – as the most powerful warlock in our family, he was the one that was to perform it. One night, which coincidentally happened to be a full moon, he cast the spell on all of us including himself. We were in transition when the werewolves attacked.'

Brogan joined in. 'They had come back to take vengeance on our family for killing their brother the month previous. Rason, still mid-transition, locked us in another room as he took on the wolves alone. We had to watch as the wolf tore our brother into ribbons, but once he died, the spell was lifted.'

'We were angry,' Dahlia said quietly. 'As a vampire, it's difficult to forget things even if they happened years and years before. This is the only time in our existence where our memories are blank, because we blacked out in rage. I just remember finding a dead werewolf at my feet when my memory returned.  
'We did what young, impulsive teenagers tried to do. We tried to bring Rason back, and he did – back then, before the Other Side was created, it was much easier to find peace. Rason had stayed in the house in order to ensure we finished the transition, as he never got the chance, with the intent of moving to the other side once he was sure of our safety. He never did find peace, though.'

'We saw him,' said Chester. 'He appeared before us and shouted at us the way only an older brother can-' he laughed softly before he carried on, 'and told us to feed on the wolves once they return back to human form. He promised that he would protect us, even from beyond the grave.'

'He did something stupid that day. He split his soul into three pieces, and pushed each piece into our bodies during our transition. Because of how powerful he was when he was alive, we all inherited a third of his power each.'

Damon's mouth was open slightly. He didn't know what to say.

'When we're in danger, his soul will manifest itself into protection for us, usually in the form of a bone-like mask or armour. It has it's own properties, such as allowing us regeneration abilities instead of healing abilities as well as enhancing the abilities we already have, plus other little things that I can't be bothered to explain,' Brogan finished.

'Can you even _die_?' Damon breathed, eyes widened.

'There's a couple of ways,' Dahlia said, finishing off her drink. 'None of which we would be willing to share with you. I'm sure you understand.'

Damon held his hand up. 'So, let me get this straight. You guys are two thousand year old Vampires with no weakness to wood or sun-' the triplets nodded, 'with a soul and an extra third inside of your body that keeps you protected-' they nodded again, 'you're two thousand years old-' nod, 'and nobody knows how to kill you?'

'I know, we're fucking Gods,' Dahlia joked.

'So you're basically a jacked up vampire with extra voodoo from your brother's soul?'

Glancing at her siblings, they shared a small look that went unnoticed by Damon. All three leaned forward, and with a firm and resounding voice, answered him with a 'Pretty much'.

It was quiet for a few minutes, before Damon snapped his head up. 'So why the hell didn't you pull those stakes out of me in the Lockwood Cellar? If the white oak tree doesn't affect you, then neither does vervain,' he snapped at Dahlia and Brogan, who grinned cheekily.

'It was fun to watch you squirm!'

/

Sat at the bar with Alaric, Damon considered his chat with the triplets just an hour previous. They had left with a firm threat/promise telling him that, if they were to reveal his secrets without permission, they would personally hand Elena over to Klaus themselves, before killing anyone that would be willing to save her so she would be stuck with him for the rest of her natural life.

That was a threat he wouldn't take lightly, considering _who_ it was that threatened him.

He pinched his nose, before ordering a huge amount of alcohol and spent the next ten minutes trying to get through it all. Too much shit had been thrown at him in the past few days. Even his vampire endurance was suffering.

This was the first time Damon felt _tired_ in a long time.

'_Right,_ I give you a choice. Bloody Mary or Screw Driver. Brunch in a bottle,' Damon said, before chugging down a bit more. 'Come on Ric, I can't drink all this by myself. I mean, I can, but then somebody's getting naked,' Damon wagged his eyebrows suggestively at the waitress, who looked perfectly happy to oblige. Looking back at Alaric, he groaned. 'Ah, man, I can't believe you're making me drink alone.'

'I'm busy,' Ric replied, his voice monotone.

Damon scoffed. 'It's the eve of Klaus-aggedon, and you're doing homework?'

Ric sighed. 'This may come as a shock, but I am not here to hang out with you. I'm here to see Jeremy. Who, by the way, is an hour late for his shift.'

Damon rolled his eyes. 'Kids today. Where are their values?'

Alaric slid Jeremy's work over to Damon, who looked _thrilled_. 'That's his mid-term paper. Copied it straight off the internet. Didn't even try to hide it.'

'Ooh,' Damon said dramatically, 'Somebody's getting grounded.'

The bartender turned to the two men. 'Did you say you were waiting for Jeremy? As in Jeremy Gilbert?'

'Yeah.'

'Oh, he was fired last week.'

Damon turned to Alaric. 'Oops.'

* * *

'So basically,' Dahlia started, 'Stefan skipped town with something belonging to Klaus. You have no idea where he is. You're holding your breath for Klaus to come and kill you as your plan went _completely _tits up and that's why you are essentially drinking yourself towards a liver failure?'

Damon nodded. 'Hit the nail on the head there, Dahlia.'

'And you haven't undaggered Rebekah yet? You're a prick.'

He was stood pouring himself another glass of Bourbon. Dahlia, on the other hand, was curled up on the sofa, feet tucked underneath her bum with her sleeves over her hands as she drank a cup of coffee that _may or may not_ have contained some Jager.

What? She hadn't drank any blood in a while.

Thinking about that, she pulled her cigarettes out of her bra and lit one. Damon scrunched up his nose.

'Do you _have_ to smoke those? Vampire senses, and all that.'

'If you _really_ didn't want me to smoke, Damon, you'd offer me a bloodbag and you wouldn't of bought me this lovely crystal ashtray to use,' Dahlia laughed, sticking her tongue out at him. He fought a small grin and shook his head at her.

She'd been sat in the Boarding House for a while. She went for a run and ended up here, so she thought she would stay true to her habit of barging into the Salvatore home and chat with Damon. He was good company sometimes.

And he's fun to annoy.

He'd sat himself down next to her, and was staring into space. Dahlia had an epiphany – after breakfast with Damon, she had gone home and watched youtube videos all day.

Let's see if that blonde girl knows what she's on about, Dahlia thought, an evil smirk coming over her face.

Noticing his glass was once again empty, Dahlia cackled madly inside as she said, 'Do you want another drink?'

He nodded. Smirking, she looked down at her phone and began scrolling through Twitter. He stared at her, waiting for her to move.

'Aren't you going to get me one?'

'No.'

Damon raised his eyebrows, before pulling his head back and letting out a loud groan, closing his eyes in frustration. Dahlia laughed at him as she leaned over, putting her finger just millimetres away from his face.

'I'm not touching you,' she whispered. Damon opened his eyes.

'What?'

'I'm not touching you!' she whispered again, snickering.

He turned and looked at her, earning him a jab in the eye from her hovering finger. 'What the hell, Dahlia!?'

She snuggled back into the crook of the sofa before giggling madly. 'I spent the afternoon watching Youtube videos on how to annoy people. It works!'

He stared at her in disbelief for a moment, before getting up and heading towards the whiskey.

'Immature,' he muttered. She just laughed harder.

As he was pouring his drink, he heard Dahlia greet someone.

'Hey, Klaus!' she chirped, her eyes slightly wet from laughing. She wiped at her eyes before focusing on him properly.

'I hope I'm not interrupting,' he said, looking between the two vampires in the room. 'I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?'

Damon pursed his lips. 'I'd say we're overdue.'

Dahlia looked back and forth between them, sighing softly. She could feel what was about to go on.

She could almost _smell_ the pissing contest approaching.

'Well, you've been so busy with your plotting and scheming,' Klaus replied. He was totally focused on Damon.

'You know me,' Damon said dismissively, 'Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure.'

'For what it's worth,' Dahlia chimed in, 'It was a pretty good plan, bar the execution part.'

They ignored her.

'Hmph. Rude.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself. Who could've guessed your own brother would betray you?' Klaus sniped.

'Well, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you,' Damon replied, equally as condesending.

'Yeah, well, she's fickle that one. And you have no idea of her whereabouts?'

'That's the thing with younger siblings. You just never know what they're gonna do.'

'I find it hard not to be offended by that, you prick,' Dahlia sniped.

'Drink?' Damon grinned. Klaus' features hardened, as Damon poured him a drink.

* * *

'You can leave, Dahlia,' Damon droned, looking at the girl curled up on his sofa, chewing the strings to her hoodie. Shaking her head, she stayed right where she was.

'Dahlia.'

'Damon.'

'Leave.'

'How about, no?' her glare hardened.

Klaus watched the interaction for just a moment. Clinking his glass against Damon's, he voiced a chirpy, 'Cheers mate!'

Pulling his gaze off of Dahlia, he looked Klaus in the eyes. 'Down the hatch.'

'You know,' Klaus pondered, 'we've actually got a lot in common, you and I.'

'Really.' Damon smiled. 'Well, yeah. Maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother. Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?'

'My family. The Originals. I had them daggered, boxed-up, awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them. And he went in and pinched the bloody lot.' Klaus smiled sarcastically, taking a sip of his drink.

'You have serious control issues, mate. I hope you know that,' Dahlia commented, picking at her nails. She had lit another cigarette, and Klaus turned to her. He looked at her with raised eyebrows – he was slightly unnerved by the audacity and boldness she showed around him. She's not afraid of him, he realised. Why?

'Ah, of course he did,' Damon nodded in understanding. 'Such a buzz kill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him. Just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you.'

'You know,' Klaus smirked, 'Your drink stinks of vervain – so I can't compel you. There would be no point in killing you because you're _actually _the one with the most help of getting me what I need. And yet, it would seem a demonstration is in order.' He glanced briefly over at Dahlia, who had gotten to her feet, her eyes slightly narrowed. 'Your friend here shows absolutely no fear of me – but right now, that isn't my main concern. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan – it seems you people respond best to displays of violence.' A sinister grin crossed his face. 'Why don't you take this as an example of my reach.'

Pulling out his phone, he made a call. Dahlia kept her eyes trained on Klaus' face.

'There he is! So, that thing I told you to do. Why don't you go ahead and get on with it?'

Dahlia's eyes widened, as she put two and two together. He had compelled someone – so who would push Damon's buttons the most?

'You're absolutely fucking despicable, Niklaus,' she whispered to him. He looked to the girl in front of him, and with a shred of concern, actually felt _bad _for just a fleeting moment (a moment too much, in his opinion). She shook his head slightly at him, before she flashed out of the boarding house and leaped into the air on the doorstep, leaving the two men confused about where she had gone.

* * *

She had always loved to fly, and it was much faster than simply running. She was at the Gilbert home in just a few seconds. She didn't like what she saw.

One of Klaus' hybrids had just sped around the corner, approaching an emotionless Jeremy Gilbert who was stood in the middle of the road. Eyebrows knitted, Dahlia descended towards them, landing in between the car and the boy.

She could here Elena's panicked screams for Jeremy to move out of the way cease for just a moment when she saw Dahlia, but she started again just as quickly when Dahlia kicked the moving car sideways like it was a fly. Alaric ran towards them and pulled Jeremy to the side, and Elena looked at her in question.

'Dahlia? What- how-' Elena stuttered. She waved off a four by four like it was absolutely _nothing_ – not even Damon and Stefan were that strong. 'Did you do this!?'

Dahlia rolled her eyes. 'If I did this, then why the fuck would I save Jeremy?' Dahlia snapped. 'You stupid girl.'

She took a few steps towards Jeremy, who had his eyes wide. She pulled him down to her level, and her pupils dilated. 'You're free from Niklaus' compulsion.'

Jeremy's face seemed to clear, and he shook his head in confusion. He opened his mouth to speak to Dahlia, but she had already walked away.

When she flipped the car, the ceiling had caved in and collapsed on Tony, who was struggling to get free. Pondering for a moment, she pulled him out. Being faster than normal vampires, he tried to escape her hold – but she had her hand gripped firmly around his throat.

'You won't run,' she droned. 'You'll do just as I say.'

Tilting her head at him, she debated what to do with him.

'Go to sleep.'

With that, Tony passed out easily on the floor and she slung him over her shoulder, much to the amazement of Alaric, Elena and Jeremy. She was so small, it was an odd sight to see – a girl so young looking with a fully grown man over her shoulder. Dahlia crouched slightly in readiness of leaving, but she paused and turned to Alaric.

'Damon told me about the Gilbert Rings,' she said. 'How many times have you died, Alaric?'

'Four, why?' Alaric looked confused at the sudden question.

'You might want to keep it at that,' she said, looking him in the eye. 'People who cheat death tend to pay the price in some way. And, if you've not paid yet, I can almost guaranteed that when you _do_ have to pay, it will be in a fucking big way.'

And with that, she leaped into the air and disappeared, leaving the tongue-tied Gilbert family behind.

* * *

Walking into her own home, Dahlia received a couple of curious stares from her brothers.

'Um, why do you have a hybrid over your shoulder, love?' Brogan questioned, tearing his eyes away from the xBox for just a moment.

Dahlia shook her head before she pulled out her phone. Hm, four missed called from Damon. Rolling her eyes, she called him back - he answered after a couple of rings.

'_Dahlia! What-_'

'I assume you know that Klaus compelled Jeremy to kill himself?' she interrupted him. Brogan and Chester looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. That's a new development.

'_Yes and you saved him. What are you gonna do with that hybrid?_' he questioned. '_I'm on my way over to Elena's. She said you left._'

'Yeah, well, I have my own plans for this guy,' she answered, dropping him unceremoniously on her kitchen floor. It was the only part of the house that had a tiled area. Carpet is a pain in the arse to clean. 'Maybe you should start slipping vervain into their water supply. The Gilberts are walking disaster, Damon. They're not going to survive the year if you're not careful.'

'_I didn't realise you cared,_' Damon cooed, and Dahlia let out an unladylike snort.

'I don't care about the Gilberts, Damon. I care that innocent people are dying because of your love for this absolute airhead of a girl, but I can't even be annoyed at you for it because you would do anything for her and it's admirable,' Dahlia paused. In her two thousand years on this earth, she had never had a love like that from anyone apart from her brothers. She shook her head. 'I saved Jeremy and Alaric because it would be easier for _you_, because you're my friend. And they're your friends. Plus, dear old badass hybrid needs a fucking reality check.'

She hung up, before poking the hybrid on the floor with her foot. He stirred and groaned, disorientated from what just happened.

'Brogan! Chester!' Dahlia shouted.

'What!?' they yelled back. Dahlia didn't bother to answer. Within a few seconds, she heard annoyed grumbles and the sound of game consoles being chucked on the table before they made an appearance into the kitchen.

'You called?' Brogan asked sarcastically.

'Do what you want to this guy,' she said, waving at the hybrid on the floor. His eyes widened. 'Don't kill him though. I have plans for that. I'll be back later.'

She walked out of the room to change out of her workout clothes, whilst Brogan and Chester looked at each other with identical smirks on their faces.

* * *

Dahlia was just outside of Mystic Falls, not far from Steven's Quarry. She'd actually decided to drive here today – usually she just flew, or one of her brothers drove her.

She was sat on top of a small hill, where Rason's old gravestone lay. Or, it used to – it had been a long time since she laid him to rest here.

She didn't know why she chose to put his headstone here. After his death, they had fashioned a small coffin with a fallen tree outside of their home and made their way across the seas. It felt right, just here in this spot. Thinking about it now, Dahlia realised that it was probably due to how _supernatural_ this town was. It just seemed fitting to lay such a powerful Expressionist here.

She was talking to the grave, telling him about the events that had occurred since they arrived here. Dahlia knew and learnt a lot of things over the years, but it was still difficult for her to process what was going on.

'We didn't tell Damon that we could use Expression,' she said, staring off into space. 'I don't know why. It's difficult, just laying the cards out on the table like that. I didn't lie to him, if you think about it. Expressionists technically aren't seen as witches.'

The silence over took her for a few minutes. She could practically see Rason's expression of disbelief, so she resigned herself to it. 'Okay, fine, we lied. But Brogan and Chester did too. It's too dangerous to let too many people know at once. It wouldn't surprise me if Damon had spilled to Elena by the end of the week, and she doesn't half talk shit to everyone _constantly_.'

Lighting a cigarette quietly, she continued. 'They saw me fly, today. They're going to ask questions. Maybe I should just go over to Klaus' mansion and talk to him. He needs a good fucking slap, that boy. He's like a toddler being refused sweets.'

Before she could think any more, Dahlia's phone rang.

'_So you managed to piss Klaus off more,' _Damon said.

'Well, hello to you too, friend. To what do I owe this pleasure?' Dahlia answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She rolled her eyes a lot.

'_What did you do with Tony?_'

'Nothing,' she replied, 'Brogan & Chester are playing with him, and I'm going to pick him up later. I'll talk to Klaus.'

'_Wait- where are you? What do you mean 'playing'?!_'

'Out of town, just for a little while. Just try and stay out of Klaus' way for a while. Oh, and don't get Alaric killed again. You'll pay for it.'

Dahlia hung up, ignoring Damon's last question, and she groaned quietly.

Looking back at the spot where the 'gravestone' was, she sighed. 'What the flying fuck do I do now?'

* * *

'So I went to the Salvatore's to check on Rebekah, but I found her gone,' Dahlia said casually, walking into Klaus' mansion. Looking around, she was impressed. 'You got a lot done in.. oh, what, thirty-six hours?' she said, laughing slightly.

Klaus flashed in front of her, rage barely hidden in his eyes.

'What,' he growled, 'are you doing here?'

'I just came to talk to you, Klaus,' Dahlia answered, smiling slightly.

'Where is Tony?' Klaus snapped. This girl was _annoying_. It had been centuries since anyone had talked to him the way that she did without being a blood relation. And, if his siblings spoke to him like that, they, more often than not, got daggered.

Looking behind him, she saw Rebekah lay on the table with a dagger sticking out of her chest.

'She's still wearing her homecoming dress,' Dahlia said softly. She walked around Klaus, who looked confused about what she was doing. 'She was so excited to go to that dance.'

'And what would you know?' he sniped, glaring at Dahlia.

'We made friends, her and I,' she said nonchalantly, playing with a lock of Rebekah's hair. 'We're very similar people, if you dig down a little bit.'

'Oh?' Klaus questioned. 'I find it hard to believe that Rebekah even managed to _make_ a friend. Is that the reason why you left the dagger in her back? Because you couldn't stand her?'

'Actually, it was because what Elena, Damon and Stefan had planned had nothing to do with me,' she answered, turning to look at him. 'And I understood, to an extent, why they wanted you and your family gone. You did make their life hell, after all.'

He was stood in the doorway. He looks very vulnerable right now, she thought.

Sighing, she fixed her gaze on him. 'She'll forgive you.'

'What?'

'She loves you. Her love for you has always outweighed the hate for you,' Dahlia whispered. 'Our biggest similarity is our love for our brothers. She has put up with your _shit_, which you have a lot of, for over a thousand years. She's going to forgive you.'

'What makes you so sure?' Klaus asked quietly, looking to Dahlia's feet.

'Because I would forgive my brothers, too.'

Taking a deep breath, Dahlia sobered and walked towards him. He eyed her up quietly.

'You shouldn't of tried to kill Jeremy. He's sixteen years old.'

'They took my family, Dahlia,' Klaus snapped, 'And I'll take theirs.'

'And you being a bully is taking you down to their level. And you have the fucking advantage; you can kill their family. They can't kill yours.'

Snarling at her, he lunged for her throat. To his surprise, she stopped his hand.

She didn't even look like she was trying.

'Do _not_ challenge me, Klaus. I will put you down, just like I did with Tony.'

'What did you do to him?' he growled.

Without saying a word, she released his hand and walked out to her car. She opened the boot, and pulled out a large bin bag. Walking back up to the mansion, Klaus' eyes never leaving her, she dumped it on the floor where it quickly fell open.

Tony's body was in pieces. It looked like he had been taken apart piece by piece. Klaus glanced at the head which had rolled out and landed at his feet.

Dahlia looked at him. 'We could be great friends, Klaus. You just need to chill your tits, because bad things happen when you lose your temper.' She spared Tony a glance. 'Although, this time I guess the tables have turned and bad things have happened to _you_.'

She moved and headed towards the door. Only briefly did she stop, and she turned to him.

'At your age, you should know that there will always be someone, or something, that is more powerful than you. More often than not they hide, just like you did, before you came across your doppelganger. It would be wise of you to take notice of what's in the shadows as well as what's in the light. Otherwise, you'll be eaten alive.'

Dahlia smiled softly, before she got into her car and drove away.

Looking down at his feet, Klaus took in the sight with raised eyebrows.

Tony's nose had caved in, with what looked to be the heel of a stiletto sticking out of it. Looking down, he noticed his windpipe and ragged skin around where his head had been torn off – and it clicked.

She had jammed a stiletto into his face and kicked off his head.

She left the heel in there to send a message.

Sick bitch.

* * *

**AN:**

I hope this satisfied many questions about the triplets. If I'm leaving anything out, please let me know. I'm trying to remain consistent.  
I've reached 600 views in about three days, which I'm super happy about. However, I've only had two favourites and ten follows as well as eight reviews - please, if there's anything I can do to improve this story, let me know your suggestions/ideas. This is the first time I've ever gone this far into a story, so a little bit of constructive criticism wouldn't go amiss. Oh! And I'm struggling to think of a nickname for Dahlia. Damon gives nicknames, and it feels weird having him call her Dahlia all the time. Let me know if you have any suggestions please! :3

This chapter is where things start going _slightly_ AU from the story. I apologise about how scripted all of it has been, but I felt it was important in integrating the triplets into the timeline, especially since they joined after the whole group-bonding experience of Klaus' sacrifice.

I've also posted a picture of the triplets as well as the book cover on my profile, if anyone is interested. :)  
(I changed my mind. Brogan & Chester are now being played by Ben Barnes. Dahlia is still being played by Lily Collins, but I added her facial piercings onto the picture. I think it worked out quite well, all things considering.)

Outfits (on Polyvore):

Dahlia's outfit at the Grill:  
dahlias_grill_outfit_chapter/set?id=123834653

Dahlia's outfit at the Boarding House:  
dahlias_boarding_house_outfit_chapter/set?id=123840231

Dahlia's outfit at Rason's grave & Klaus' mansion:  
ahlias_outfit_visiting_klaus_chapter/set?id=123870629


	7. Chapter 7

**Music:**

**Hakuna Matata – Lion King (Car ride)**

**Pan's Labryinth Lullaby - Javier Navarrete (Dahlia's flight onwards)**

* * *

Dahlia actually turned up to school today. She was sat outside, _The Collector_ by John Fowles open in her lap.

She had read this book several times throughout the years. Maybe she liked it because it's _creepy_, but she held a lot of sympathy for Frederick in the book. He was, essentially, a lonely man with resources to kidnap a woman. He just wanted company.

Like Klaus, she thought. Hah. That's funny.

A car pulled up a few feet away from her, and she noticed with interest that it was Caroline. She didn't look too happy, Dahlia noticed. Looking to her left, she saw Tyler standing and looking at Caroline.

Damon had told Dahlia of the fact that all hybrids were sired to Klaus. Love was one of the things that Dahlia found difficult to empathise with, but she felt sorry for Caroline. From what she had heard of her, Caroline was a nice girl. Overbearing, but nice.

Dahlia caught on to what Tyler was saying, and she felt a sadness bubbling in her stomach.

'I just wanted you to know that I understand why you can't be with me,' he said, looking into her eyes. 'Even though I want to put you first, before anyone, I can't. I'll never be able to. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just want you to know that.'

Caroline smiled slightly. 'I'm sorry too.'

Sighing slightly, he handed her a small drawstring bag.

'Happy birthday,' he said softly, giving her one last look before he walked away.

Dahlia watched as Caroline opened the bag and found a charm bracelet, and she watched Caroline's face drop.

She dogeared her book and closed it, sticking it back in her bag before standing up. What a shit birthday.

She approached Caroline.

'Hey, I'm Dahlia,' she said softly, and Caroline looked down at her slightly. 'I saw you the other day when I was with Damon, but I don't think I've actually _met_ you properly,'

'Oh, yeah. Hey,' Caroline's voice was quiet. 'I'm Caroline Forbes.'

She wasn't being overly friendly, but Dahlia understood. A birthday is a birthday, though. You shouldn't be sad on your birthday.

'I heard about Tyler's sire bond,' she said, and Caroline looked up at her. She didn't actually know how much Dahlia knew – she just knew that Dahlia and her brothers were vampires, and that they were friends with Damon. 'That sucks dick.'

Caroline wasn't used to a girl, especially as small as her, cussing so much. She let out a little laugh. 'Yeah, it's not great,'

'Well,' Dahlia chuckled, 'Nobody should spend a birthday feeling sad. Birthdays are for celebrating,' she smiled. 'I think we should ditch. What do you say to a little girl time?'

Caroline raised an eyebrow. Why was this girl being so nice to her?

Sensing the suspicion, Dahlia raised her hands. 'No ulterior motive, I swear. But your first vampire birthday should be something you remember fondly, don't you think?'

She considered it. 'I suppose so.'

Dahlia brightened. 'Great! Why don't you drop your car off home and I'll meet you in a little bit? I'll come pick you up and we can go out of town for a little bit.'

'Alright then,' Caroline was still slightly unsure, but it sounded more fun than sitting in a classroom all day.

'Can I put my number on your phone? You can text me when you're ready and I'll let you know when I'm on my way, I've just got a couple of things to do before we go,' she smiled.

Caroline nodded, and handed her phone over. Dahlia programmed her number in, picked up her bag and gave a small wave.

'I'll see you soon then,' she said, before she headed to her own car.

Turns out her attendance in school is going to stay extremely low after all.

* * *

Taking a step into Klaus' mansion, she observed the amount of work that had been done. There were _walls_ now.

'Speedy work, Klaus,' Dahlia smiled to herself. She noticed a couple of hybrids staring at her from across the room, a threat in their eyes. Dahlia rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic wave, before she walked into the other room.

'Klaus, babe, I love what you've done with the place,' she grinned, before looking down and spotting a red blood stain on the ground. 'Fuck a duck, what happened here?'

Klaus looked up at her, annoyance clearly shown on his face. 'Stefan.'

Her mouth formed an 'o' of understanding, before snickering slightly. 'He really wants these hybrids gone, huh?'

'What do you know?' Klaus narrowed his eyes.

'I only know what Damon knows, and even then it's not everything. Stefan's fallen off the edge and into a crater deep enough to reach the earth's crust, I'm afraid.'

'What are you doing here, anyway?' Klaus enquired. He was in no mood to deal with her today.

'Oh, I just thought I'd share some hybrid news with you,' she said nonchalantly, looking at the house plans. 'I take it you're building this house for free.'

'What?' Klaus asked. The sooner she's gone, the better. He could deal with her later.

'Tyler and Caroline had a bit of a heart-to-heart this morning,' she said, picking up a saw and running her finger along it. She nicked her finger and watched a drop of blood form on top of the cut, before sticking her finger in her mouth and sucking it off. She tasted good.

Klaus was focused on her finger. As a male, it is very distracting when a female sucks her finger. As a vampire, it's much more distracting when blood is involved.

'And what would this heart-to-heart have entailed, may I ask?'

'They broke up, basically.'

He laughed slightly. 'How unfortunate.'

'It's sad, really. It's because of his sire bond to you,' she continued, looking up at him.

'That's got nothing to do with me, sweetheart. He chose to break up with her on his own,' he stated.

'Well, yes, but you're missing the point here,' Dahlia sighed. 'You're supposed to be intelligent, although you're probably the most emotionally stunted human being I've ever met.'

His eyes narrowed. 'What?'

'Sweetheart, just because you fail in the love department, doesn't mean that you can watch everything crash and burn because of you and then laugh about it,' Dahlia chirped.

Klaus opened his mouth to retort, an angry gleam in his eyes, when Daniel approached him.

'What do you want me to do with her head?' he asked, obviously missing the tension in the room. What an absolute dumbass. Half of the hybrids had been staring her down since she walked onto te property and were glaring daggers at her, and this dipshit decided to interrupt Klaus after she'd just riled him up. He'll end up dead soon, she thought.

Glancing at what was in his hand, she saw a sack (which obviously contained a head) that was dripping on the floor. Dahlia scrunched up her nose. Gross.

'Just get rid of it. Burn it. I honestly don't care, Daniel.' Klaus snapped, his patience wearing thin.

He looked back at Dahlia, noticing her disgusted expression and he raised a brow. 'Don't tell me you find that disgusting?'

At this point, Tyler walked into the room and noticed with surprise that Dahlia was there. He'd heard that she'd arrived in town. Didn't know she was friends with Klaus, though – so he stayed quiet.

'It's getting blood all over the floor, Klaus,' she retorted, eyeing the blood drops with disdain.

'After you delivered Tony's head to me with the heel of your stiletto lodged in his brain, you feel disturbed by a couple of drops of blood?' Klaus enquired, smirking slightly. Tyler's eyes widened.

'Oh, I only took off his head. My brothers have learnt to clean up the mess they make before I come home when they torture someone.' She finally took notice of Tyler standing in the doorway, and Klaus followed.

He cleared his throat. 'You called? I'm here. What happened?'

Klaus sighed. 'What happened is Stefan had two paths in front of him and he chose the one that made me angry. I need you to help me do something about that.'

Dahlia had moved to sit on the table, rocking it slightly to make sure it was stable. She's like a child, Klaus thought. She'd picked up the tool that Stefan had used to decapitate his hybrid's head, picking off crusty bits of blood with her finger. She seemed absolutely fascinated, until one of the flecks landed on her jeans. When she noticed the two men looking at her strangely, she grinned and put the tool down and waved her hands in a _carry _on motion before she crossed her hands delicately on her lap.

'.. Can't you just leave me out of it?' Tyler asked, focusing back on the situation at hand.

'What would be the point of that?' Klaus countered, a smirk on his face. He had failed to notice that Dahlia, at this point, had pickpocketed his phone and was adding his number to her contacts. She might need it, she thought. This would come in handy.

'It is an opportunity to be a good person, Klaus,' Dahlia mocked. She'd crossed her legs indian-style, sitting on his carefully drawn out plans and wrinkling them ever so slightly. Oops.

Noticing a phone that looked very similar to his own, Klaus watched her. 'What're you doing, love?'

'Pinching your phone number. Here you go,' she replied, handing his phone back to him. He took it slowly.

'Who would've thought that the paranoid hybrid didn't have a passcode?' she mocked.

'Can't you just ask another hybrid to do your bidding? I've lost my friends and my girlfriend because of this bond,' Tyler pushed.

'Right, your girlfriend. About her.' Klaus paused. 'I need you to bite her.'

Dahlia's eyebrows raised as Tyler's eyes widened. 'Oft, curveball!' Dahlia said, as Tyler stuttered out an unsure 'What?' to Klaus.

'Don't make me repeat myself,' Klaus breathed, eyes narrowed at Tyler.

'A hybrid bite will kill a vampire,'

'Yeah, I know exactly what it'll do,' he said, fed up. 'Stefan pushed me too far, so I'm pushing back.'

'I'm not biting Caroline,' Tyler said defiantly.

Dahlia sighed. 'You're such a wanker, man,' she directed towards Klaus, 'You know that he's going to have to bite her now.' She didn't miss the small smirk that crossed his face. She turned to Tyler. 'Don't you dare bite her before lunch, because if you do then it'll ruin our girly day.'

Tyler raised an eyebrow and Dahlia shrugged. 'What? She's having a shit birthday. Least I could do is take her out for sushi.'

'I've been supernaturally blessed with the good fortune of a sire-bond to you, Tyler. So, consider me putting your undying loyalty to the test.' Klaus said, eyeing up Tyler.

'Nope! Can't listen to this anymore. You,' she said, pointing to Klaus, 'are a Grade A bellend that has _serious_ control issues and a very sensitive ego. _You_,' she said, pointing to Tyler, 'need to think of a very fucking good apology and grovel for the rest of your life, because if Caroline survives this, you're dead meat.'

Dahlia sauntered out of the room. The only acknowledgement she gave the speechless men as she walked off was a small backwards wave, accompanied by the tinkling of her car keys that were in her hand.

Klaus couldn't help but appreciate the feisty side of the dark haired beauty. She was interesting.

Not many women in the world had ever left him speechless.

* * *

She pulled up to Caroline's just as she locked the door. Dahlia waved, and Caroline hopped into the passenger seat of Dahlia's Range Rover.

'Has anyone told you that you've got a _sweet_ car?' Caroline breathed, looking around.

Dahlia chuckled. 'Not since I moved, actually. Thank you. I don't drive it that much.'

'Why not?' Caroline demanded. If she had a car like this, she would drive_ everywhere_.

'It's quicker to fly,' Dahlia said nonchalantly, pulling away from the house. Caroline's face twisted to shock.

'You can fly?' she said in disbelief.

'Well, in a sense, yeah. It's a long story, though. I'll tell you another time.'

Caroline knew when she was dismissed. Normally, she would've pushed harder, but quite frankly, she wasn't really in the mood. And she felt like Dahlia was the kind of person that wouldn't budge.

It was quiet for a minute.

'So, where're we going?' she asked, opening the glove box.

'We're going to a town about 45 minutes away with an actual shopping centre and good food,' Dahlia replied, smiling softly.

'That sounds good to me,' Caroline said. She found a CD holder, and started flicking her way though it. 'Why're you being so nice to me, anyway? We barely know each other.'

'Well, you don't get to know people by being mean to them, do you?' Dahlia answered, 'You look like you needed to do something you wouldn't normally do. You seem like the kind of girl that does the same thing for their birthday every year, no offence.' She paused. 'If you wanted to do the same thing, you wouldn't of agreed to skive with me so I say we make the most of it.'

'Any ideas- oh my God, you've got the Disney's Greatest CDs!' Caroline squealed. Dahlia let out a loud laugh and nodded, pointing at the CD player. Caroline laughed, but recovered. 'So, as I was saying, any ideas on what we're going to do?'

'I say we go get our nails done, grab lunch and shop. My treat, seeing as it's your birthday and all,' Dahlia winked. Caroline's face dropped slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Dahlia. 'Why're you so down about your birthday?'

'I'm dead.' Caroline deadpanned. Dahlia raised an eyebrow. 'I died in a filler year. I died at seventeen. I'm stuck on _the_ most crap year to be in,' Caroline sighed.

Dahlia thought for a moment, taking her hand off the steering wheel to change the song. _Hakuna Matata_ blasted through the car.

'I think you need to take this song to heart. We're going to listen to Disney songs and we're going to have a girl's day. Whether you choose to make it for your birthday or not, that's up to you.'

Caroline smiled softly, uttering a small 'thank you' to Dahlia.

They spent the rest of the car ride laughing and singing in very tone-deaf, out-of-tune voices to the Disney soundtrack.

They left at nine in the morning – they didn't get home until half past four.

* * *

Honestly? The Wickery Bridge fundraiser event wasn't somewhere that any of the triplets wanted to be. Why couldn't they just sign a cheque and leave?

Sigh.

This town has too many events that require mass attendance.

'Oh, hybrid kissing ass, three o'clock,' Brogan snickered. The other siblings looked up, to see Klaus chatting to the Mayor.

'Figures he'd turn up at an event that would make him look good,' Chester commented, pushing his glasses back up on his nose.

Dahlia nodded. 'Well, displaying his more redeeming qualities in public isn't one of his strong suits.

She made her way towards them with her brothers following behind her as Damon also made an appearance.

'Look what the cat dragged in,' Damon said, observing Klaus. 'Nice vest.'

'Thank you very much. Good to see you, Damon,' Klaus smirked. 'Carol and I were discussing about whether you would be the other big benefactor tonight.'

'What do you say, Damon? Klaus has made a very generous pledge. You know how we're chomping at the bit to begin the renovation,' Carol looked at him hopefully.

'Yes, that deathtrap definitely needs a good fixing. Like steel supports, for example,' Chester drawled, approaching the Mayor. She appraised Chester and his siblings, who were all smiling at her. He took her hand and planted a soft kiss on the back of it. 'Pleasure to meet you, ma'am.'

Dahlia rolled her eyes. 'Excuse my brother, Mayor. And Klaus, as well. They both kiss ass so prettily,' she said, snickering at them when they both glared. Turning back to the Mayor, she introducted herself. 'I'm Dahlia Lennox. These are my brothers, Brogan and Chester.'

'Ah, the infamous Lennox brothers! I finally get to put a name to a face,' Klaus commented, taking a sip of his drink.

'All good things I hope, mate,' Brogan replied. His face held an amused expression.

'What're you guys doing here?' Damon asked.

'We have three cars in the driveway that total about $300,000, Damon,' Dahlia smirked. 'What makes you think we wouldn't be invited?'

'Touché,' Damon replied, before he turned back to Carol. 'Carol, don't take this the wrong way, but you do realise that you've been kissing the ass of an immortal hybrid who ruined your son's life?'

'Oh, come on now,' Klaus laughed, 'Some would say that I saved him from all that nasty full moon business. I've never had to go through it myself more than twice, to be honest, but still, I'm very sympathetic.'

'If you stick your head up her arse anymore, we'll be able to see you out of her nostrils,' Dahlia deadpanned.

Carol chose to ignore the crass girl stood by her side, and tried to imagine Dahlia as a stack of speaking moneybags instead. 'Klaus has promised to protect Tyler, Damon. And our town.'

'From who? His hybrids are the ones the town needs protection from,' Damon sniped, glaring slightly at the mayor.

'Well, I'd have no use for them if your brother would kindly return my family,' Klaus replied, equally as testy.

'Not gonna happen.'

'That's what I thought, which is why I've come to an agreement with the Mayor,' Klaus said smugly. 'You and the Council stay out of my hair, I stay out of yours. Your town gets protected, my hybrids get left alone and everybody will be happy. All you have to do is to get Stefan to stop decapitating my friends.'

'It doesn't sound like much fun, being your friend,' Brogan commented.

Carol turned to Damon pleadingly. 'Please, Damon, just get your brother under control, or the Council will be forced to take action against him.'

'You've got to be kidding me!' Damon said, his voice laced in disbelief.

'Oh come on, mate,' Klaus' tone was mocking, 'Give peace a chance.'

It was very quiet for a tense few minutes. Dahlia, not being a fan of awkward silences at all, felt like she should diffuse the situation. She pulled out a chequebook, signing a signature on it before looking up at Carol. 'How much do you want?'

Hm, it was funny how much the Mayor liked her all of a sudden, now that her vision of talking moneybags had come true.

* * *

Dahlia had to snicker when she heard Sheriff Forbes describe the relationship between Damon and Klaus as a pissing contest.

Hit the nail right on the head there, love, Dahlia thought.

She felt a small pang of sadness, though, when she heard what Liz said at the end. If she wasn't already, then Caroline would soon be infected with werewolf venom and on her deathbed. After spending the day with her, Dahlia felt guilty. Caroline was too nice of a person to die as collateral damage.

Without a second thought, she turned to her brothers who were stood with Damon.

'I'll see you at home. I'm going to clear my head.'

They simply nodded, knowing what that meant. She was going out for a fly.

She walked to the nearest alleyway, made sure she couldn't be seen and leaped up into the air.

* * *

When Damon had called Elena's phone and Stefan had answered, they looked at each other with an apprehensive glance. They grew more concerned when Damon stormed off, stalking in the direction of Klaus. They followed the two vampires into an empty room.

Brogan and Chester weren't concerned. Dahlia was out there, after all.

Damon, on the other hand..

'What now? You just pulled me away from a fascinating conversation about landscaping the Town Square,' Klaus drawled, his signature smirk on his face.

'Stefan just grabbed Elena.' Damon was taking deep breaths, trying to keep some semblance of calm to him. Klaus' blasé attitude was just irritating him more.

'Well, he's getting desperate,' Klaus chuckled.

'He's gonna try and user her against you. Do what he says and get rid of your hybrids,' Damon growled, approaching Klaus.

'Or what? Stefan would never dream of killing her.' Klaus waved his hands dismissively, whilst Brogan and Chester kept quiet, simply observing the situation.

'You sure about that?' Damon spat. 'He just tried to behead someone in the middle of a Council party. He's operating on crazy right now.'

'He's worse than Chester was back when he was a ripper, and that was _bad_,' Brogan reminisced, earning a jab in the kidney from Chester. He bent over and grunted in pain, letting out a small 'Ow, fucker,' as he went down.

'Well, crazy or not, that kind of love never dies,' Klaus said confidently. 'He's bluffing.'

'Because you're such an expert on love,' Chester noted, nodding his head.

'Maybe he is,' Damon snapped, 'or maybe he isn't but if you don't want to believe him, believe me. I know my brother better than anyone, and right now, I don't have a clue how far he's willing to take this. So if he says blink, I suggest you blink.'

Damon's tone was dangerous as he leaned right up in Klaus' face, who looked perturbed. Brogan and Chester just hoped that Dahlia would do something about it.

* * *

She hadn't been in the air long, probably about five minutes. She was circling around the town, looking at the lights below her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a red car speeding down the road. She was pretty sure it was Stefan's car, so she trailed it.

What was he up to now?

As he got closer to Wickery Bridge, he began to speed up. Dahlia heard the panicked screams of Elena telling him to stop the car, and it took only a microsecond to put the pieces together.

In the back of her mind, she was wondering why she was even going to help Elena. There was nothing more annoying than someone who _constantly_ played the Damsel card. She had done a couple of good deeds already today, after giving the gleeful Mayor seventy five grand and taking Caroline out for a nice day out.

I'm going to run out of good deeds very soon, Dahlia thought. It wasn't often that she went out of her way for anyone other than her brothers. This town was changing her.

'Tell your hybrids to get out of town, Klaus,' she heard Stefan demand. He must be on the phone, then.

She could hear Elena's panicked breathing for a few moments before Stefan continued to speak. 'Well, then I'm gonna have to drive your blood source off of Wickery Bridge.'

Hearing that, Dahlia tuned out and pushed herself faster towards the bridge. There was a bend in the road just before that destination, so Dahlia landed quietly in the middle of the road and waited for them to arrive. It wouldn't be long now.

'I just fed her my blood. No more hybrids if she's a vampire.'

Elena started screaming as Stefan continued his phonecall.

'Really? Try me. Because your coffins are next to go. Say goodbye to your family, Klaus,' Stefan said coldly, putting his foot on the acceleration.

Any moment now, she thought.

'Stefan, slow down! Stefan!' Elena was screaming. She was absolutely terrified. 'Stefan! Stop, stop it!'

Stefan slowed the car once he made the corner, and noticed with shock that Dahlia was stood, an emotionless look on her face, in front of his car.

'Dahlia-' Stefan breathed. Klaus, about to hang up, had stopped when he heard what Stefan said.

'You know, you probably just caused more psychological damage to this girl than Klaus did to you,' she commented tonelessly, before she opened the car door and pulled him out. She slammed him on the bonnet, and looked him in the eye. 'What are you doing, Stefan?' she asked calmly.

He breathed heavily, 'I'm getting my own back.'

'Y'see, that's all flowers and peaches,' she replied, 'but you're hurting _everyone_ in your mission to do it. And I don't think this is about Klaus at all.'

'He ruined me,' Stefan snapped.

'No, no,' she shook her head. 'You did. You ruined yourself the moment you decided not to teach yourself self-control and you let your instincts overtake you. You're just angry that Klaus ripped fifty years of work away from you so easily. You're angry that, in doing so, he caused you to push away the person that would've stood by you through this.'

By this point, Elena had gotten out of the car and was staring at the scene with wide eyes. Klaus was listening intently, as were Brogan, Chester and Damon.

'No,' Stefan growled.

'Yes,' she snapped, her voice defiant. 'You do what you have to do, Stefan. But in your goal of besting Klaus by being a better villain, you're hurting everyone you love out of your need for _revenge_,' she spat. 'He's hurting everyone you love _because you gave him a reason to._'

She let go of his hands.

'Obviously Damon didn't tell you what I told him the night before Homecoming,' she said. '_Family above all._'

She stepped back, and watched as he slowly stood upright, his eyes never leaving her.

Glancing over at Elena, Dahlia watched as the girl began to fall apart. She cast a glance at Stefan, before turning and walking through the woods. She heard the conversation between them.

Sighing, she pulled out her phone and texted Damon to come pick Elena up. She didn't feel like carrying a teenage mess on her back when she flew home.

* * *

Brogan and Chester shook their heads, as Damon saw a text from Dahlia and Klaus hung up the phone.

'She used that voice,' Brogan said, shuddering. Damon and Klaus turned to him.

'She's pissed,' Chester voiced.

Turning to Damon, they spoke again.

'I really do suggest doing something about Stefan,' Chester advised, an air of calm and finality about him. 'Dahlia is hard to piss off, but when you do, you want to stay away from her. Takes no shit, that girl.'

'I think that, if this carries on for much longer, Dahlia will be the one that stakes Stefan.' Brogan finished.

Damon contemplated this.

'I'm going to get Elena.'

Without a glance backwards, he left the room, leaving Klaus, Brogan and Chester alone.

At that moment, Klaus' phone went off with a text from an unknown number.

_'You know what you did today. Fix it.'_

Glancing at the text, Chester pointed at the phone number. 'That's Dahlia's number. She's in a bad mood, you might want to listen to her.'

Klaus mimicked Damon. Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked away.

* * *

The mansion was coming along quite nicely, she thought. It was going to be far too fancy for her liking, but that's okay.

She had a glass of wine in her hand. White was her favourite, but what girl could turn down a nice bottle of red vintage?

Definitely not Dahlia.

She was sat inside Klaus' mansion on one of his newer sofas, staring off into space. She did a lot of thinking recently – much more than she was used to doing – and it disturbed her. She missed the nights where she would skip out on sleep and read books and watch Disney movies without a care in the world. Now she couldn't go a single day without waking up to someone in this town making a move against someone else's life.

Klaus walked into his mansion and paused at the doorway when he saw who was sat in his living room. A human being probably would've missed her, but he could see her clearly. Moonlight streamed through the windows ominously, and her eyes had an eerie glow to them. He stared.

'I assume you've healed Caroline, seeing as my the event finished a little while ago.'

Klaus nodded silently. He didn't understand why her and her brothers affected him so – he felt respect for all of them, and he didn't understand why.

Above all, he didn't understand why Dahlia defended his actions on Wickery Bridge today.

'Caroline would be good for you,' she noted. He raised an eyebrow. 'She's full of light and love. You need that. She loves wholly and deeply, and she could learn to love you.'

'Love is a vampire's greatest weakness, love.'

'And yet, it is also their greatest strength,' she retorted.

'How so?'

'Battles work better when you have an army. You can't go against the world on your own, you'll lose eventually.'

'I think I've done pretty well so far, love,' he commented.

'Then why did your siblings run with you for a thousand years? They didn't have to,' she said softly. He didn't answer.

'Love comes in many forms, Klaus. You don't have to have much experience with it to understand that. You're one of the most powerful beings in the world – you have a lot of enemies, but if you had people by your side, you would have more than enough resources to fight them all back and you would be able to protect the ones you love so that they wouldn't be a weakness anymore,' she paused for a moment. 'Plus, you've broken your curse, you've got your hybrids. When, for whatever reason, Elena can't provide you with blood anymore and you can't make anymore hybrids, what will your purpose be then? It would be very dull to spend eternity on your own.'

She stood up and made her way past him, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a small smile.

'I'm glad you saved her.'

With that, she left. And Klaus was, once again, left speechless and contemplative.

A few seconds later, she scuttled back into the room and grabbed the bottle of wine she had opened as Klaus watched on in surprise.

Turning to him, she shrugged.

'You have nice wine.'

* * *

**AN:**

**Review/Favourite/Follow/PM! :3**

Outfits (on Polyvore):

Dahlia's school/girls day outfit:  
dahlias_outfit_from_school_to/set?id=123899145

Dahlia's fundraiser outfit:  
dahlias_fundraiser_outfit_chapter/set?id=123899480


	8. Chapter 8

**Music**

**Pop Flip Catch – D at Sea**

**Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Acoustic Remix) – All Time Low  
**

**Can You Feel My Heart - Bring Me The Horizon**

**Second and Sebring by Of Mice & Men – D at Sea cover (what Chester & Dahlia sing)**

**Hakuna Matata – Lion King**

* * *

Walking back into the house, Dahlia dropped her car keys on the side table and headed for the living room where her brothers were.

They were sat in the fortress of pillows, blankets and beanbags in the centre of the room facing a huge television that took up most of the space of the wall parallel to the hallway, playing a very heated game of GTA5. Laughing at them slightly, Dahlia placed a couple of bags of food on the low coffee table in front of them, bending down so she wouldn't get in the way of the television.

It felt like _ages_ ago that Dahlia had actually sat in the same room as her brothers with the purpose of just relaxing. She figured she shouldn't complain, seeing as they'd had two thousand years of doing whatever the fuck they wanted, so she was okay with reaching out of the family ever so slightly and spending time apart from her brothers.

Mostly.

It had gone noon, and Dahlia hadn't received a single panicked phone call about any happenings in Mystic Falls. She pushed bag the urge to open a bottle of champagne and celebrate – knowing her luck, she'd get the call just as the cork flies out of the bottle and then she'd take someone's eye out and _then_ she'd be in trouble.

She pulled her hair over her shoulder before grabbing the sushi box she'd brought home with her. It was incredibly annoying having to drive forty five minutes out of Mystic Falls to get her favourite food. She'd tried to fly it once, but she'd dropped the bag from quite a distance and it landed (and knocked out) someone who was, unluckily, walking beneath her.

She resorted to drive from then on.

Looking on at her brothers, she gave a small smile.

There was no other place she'd rather be.

* * *

At the Salvatore boarding house a little while later, Stefan walked into his home to find Klaus drinking some of his best whiskey, listening to music. What an asshole.

'What are you doing here, Klaus?' Stefan questioned, circling around the room as he flipped the remote in his hand and turned it the stereo off.

'Enjoying our stalemate,' he retorted, head leant back, the muscles in his jaw jumping.

'What do you want?' Stefan pressed, smiling sarcastically.

'The question is, what do you want?' Klaus paused. 'My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell me what I need to do to get my family back.'

'Well, see,' Stefan cleared his throat, throwing a mocking smile at Klaus. 'I'm not negotiating.'

'And you understand that holding them indefinitely is the same thing as dropping them in the ocean?'

'No, no,' Stefan dismissed. 'You leave Mystic Falls and then give me a call in a few years and we'll talk.'

'Well that doesn't sound like a very fair deal.'

A fairly deep, breathy female voice joined the conversation as Dahlia walked into the Boarding House, her brothers trailing behind her.

Lowering his head, Stefan glared up at her. 'What are you doing here, Dahlia? Come to threaten me a little more?'

Chester answered him. 'Actually, she's just spent the last hour watching youtube videos about how to annoy people so we thought we would drop her off here. Where's Damon?'

'Don't know, don't care,' Stefan replied, turning to Chester.

'I feel as if I'm interrupting something,' Dahlia contemplated, waving her hands dramatically. Her eyes were open wide and gleaming with happiness. She looked slightly deranged in her hyper state, everyone in the room noticed.

She pouted. 'Awh, but I wanna annoy Damon. He's fun to annoy. I poked him in the eye the other day!' Her chest puffed out proudly, and her brothers gave her a gentle, soothing smile.

'Alright, sweetheart. We're proud of you,' Brogan soothed, putting his hand on the base of her hairline. He started to rub circles there, and she calmed down slightly much to the amusement of Klaus. So she's like a childish cat.

'Seriously, though,' Brogan continued, turning to Stefan, 'that doesn't sound like a very fair deal at all.'

'I can give you another chance,' Klaus stated. 'Just one more. Let's make a reasonable deal.'

'Or what? You make one move and I'll drop-'

Klaus interrupted him with a laugh. 'Yes, right. Crazy Stefan. Mm. How's that working out for you?' he paused. 'Any friends left?'

He glanced at the triplets, who all snorted, shaking their heads.

Stefan stood up and walked out, leaving the triplets with Klaus.

* * *

The vampires in the room jumped at the sound of _very_ loud music echoing through the room. It was Dahlia's ringtone. Oh, someone was calling her.

She didn't seem to process this, though. She started dancing to the music, singing along when it played long enough so that the lyrics started to play. Dahlia started to belt out the words, spinning to the music as her brothers raised an eyebrow and Klaus watched on with a blank face.

_'Can you hear the silence? Can you see the dark? Can you fix the broken, can you feel. Can you feel my hea-'_ Dahlia frowned as the music abruptly stopped. Apparently the person on the other line was fed up of waiting for her to answer, so Dahlia pulled the phone out of her pocket and redailed.

'Hey, Caroline. What's up?'

The men stayed silent.

'_Tyler's trying to break the sire bond by transforming into a werewolf because he thinks __that if he does it, then it might help break his sire bond to Klaus,'_ Caroline whisper-yelled.

She was obviously panicking.

'Sounds like a pretty good plan to me. People only feel that kind of loyalty to someone if they feel grateful for something or other,' Dahlia said into her phone.

'_Yes but he's got my _dad_ to help him!'_ Caroline retorted. Dahlia raised her eyebrows.

'The bloke who tortured you to try and turn you human again?'

The boys couldn't hear what she was saying, but it sounded interesting, even from one side. Dahlia kept her phone annoyingly quiet, so they couldn't eavesdrop on her. Unfortunately. (Lucky for Tyler and Caroline, though, seeing as Klaus was at the other side of the room.)

'_The same one,'_ Caroline answered, sounding none to happy before she quieted. '_He's going to get hurt._'

'Probably,' Dahlia answered honestly. A werewolf and a human in the same room is in no way a good idea she thought, thinking back to the night her and her brothers died. 'But, you know what? You give me a call if anything happens or if you want company because I assume you're going to go watch. I'll bring food, Disney films and tequila. Sound good?'

'_Thanks, Dahlia,_' Caroline sighed, grateful for Dahlia being around. With Bonnie and Elena out of time, Dahlia was the only girl left.

'No probs baby girl. Don't get hurt.'

Dahlia stayed quiet for a few moments after she hung up. She would most likely need to get supplies for later on. She could almost see what was going to happen. There's no place in Mystic Falls for a werewolf to safely transform, not that she knew of.

'Right, I'm going to the shop,' Dahlia stated, turning to her brothers. They were looking at her in amusement.

'What for?'

'Tequila, peanut butter cups, oreos and girly movies. Do you guys want anything?'

'Skittles and vodka,' Brogan replied, smirking lightly. Dahlia brightened.

'Yes! Perfect! Nothing better than eating rainbows,' Dahlia chirped, pulling out a pen from nowhere and writing everything down on her hand.

'Klaus?' she turned to him, an eyebrow raised in question.

It took him a second to process, but he answered with an unsure, 'I'm alright, love.'

She nodded and walked out the door.

'You boys play nice!' she sang.

* * *

She pulled up at her house after her shopping trip and pulled out several bags from the boot. She'd bought six bottles of vodka, two bottles of tequila, several packets of skittles, a bag full of Disney and girly movies as well as a bag full of treats (including Reese's chocolate and Oreos).

The first thing she did when she walked in was start the process of making skittle vodka. She'd just put the bottles in the dishwasher when her phone rang, the name 'Damon' lighting up the screen.

Looks like she couldn't go a full day without some kind of crisis after all, she sighed.

'I don't like phone calls from you anymore,' she stated.

'_We hav-_ _wait, what? Why?_' Damon asked, slightly offended.

'Because whenever you call, something's happened and I've not had a PJ day for very long time,' Dahlia groaned. 'Wha's occurin', love?'

'_Klaus knows where the coffins are, Dahlia_,' Damon sighed. '_Bonnie told him, basically._'

'Well, that's not good. I take it you want my help with something?'

'_I don't have time to move more than one coffin, and I don't have time to compel anyone to help me do it so I need you to go to the Lockwood Cellar, where the caves are, and find people for me_.'

'You going to compel them?' Dahlia questioned, looking at her nails.

'_I'm going to compel them to take the coffin into that part of the tunnels where vampires can't enter._'

Dahlia laughed. 'That's actually a good idea, well done you. Ten points for your ingeniousness!' Dahlia joked. 'Consider it done.'

_'I'll see you later.'_

Opening the dishwasher and giving the bottles a firm shake, she made sure that they were mixing properly before she stepped out the door. She leaped into the air.

* * *

She watched from the treeline as Damon left. She'd called her brothers from the Lockwood cellar, who came to meet her at the witch house out of morbid curiosity.

What can I say? The family had issues.

Nevertheless, the triplets looked at Damon's smug grin as he left. He had obviously done something to look that happy – he was also coming out fully in tact, which means Klaus didn't kill him.

The triplets approached the witch house, feeling more and more uncomfortable as they approached.

To be honest, they were concerned with what kind of reaction they would get from the witches.

Surprisingly, though, they were very quiet. The witches didn't react or cause them pain when they walked in, so they hovered by the doorway just for a moment before they flashed down to the basement where they found Klaus staring at the blank space where the fourth coffin should have been.

The room was covered in candles, Dahlia noticed. Obviously Bonnie had been in here recently, probably trying to open the coffin. It didn't go unnoticed by the triplets that the candles started flickering wildly when they walked in – the witches seemed hesitant, and unsure.

After all, the Lennox triplets were merely a myth that had died down throughout the centuries. Any witch or warlock that would've come across them were long dead, and had died long before the other side.

They could always sense expression magic though, those dead witches. They sensed expression magic, and they didn't feel like normal vampires. The candles didn't stop flickering.

'Need a hand?' Dahlia said softly. Klaus looked up at her with a curious gaze.

'You always seem to turn up at the most opportune moments,' he remarked lightly, turning to look at the other three coffins in the room.

'Well then, you're lucky we like you,' Dahlia laughed. The brothers nodded in agreement.

'Why?' Klaus wondered. No one liked him – not even his family.

Brogan contemplated this for a moment, before he answered. 'Well, you have the emotional range of the head of a pin and fucked up ways of expressing it,' Klaus glared, but Brogan ignored it, 'but we understand why you go to the lengths you go to, to protect your family. Even if it means you're a bit fucked in the head.'

He took another step into the room, but was greeted with the pain of a light migraine. Glaring at the ceiling, he spoke to the witches.

'It would be a good idea to _get the fuck out of my head_,' he growled. 'You might not like what you find in there.' He willed the pain to stop, and it did. The flames on the candles surrounding them flared up in anger.

'What, annoyed that I can stop your _bloody_ aneurysms? Tough shit, ladies. Find a better hobby,' Brogan snapped, before taking a hold of one of the coffins.

Dahlia and Chester mimicked him, each willing their own headaches to go away. The candles did not dim.

'Where do you want these?' Dahlia asked brightly.

* * *

Dahlia, Brogan and Chester had just dropped off the coffins at Klaus', and were leaning against the doorway. Obviously, despite having his family back, he wasn't very happy.

'Are you alright, Klaus?' Dahlia asked quietly. Whatever was in that coffin was very important to him – but why?

'Fine,' he replied shortly. He was caressing one of the coffins, staring at it with a thoughtful look on his face.

'You can't keep treating them like toys, Klaus. They're your siblings,' Dahlia said, looking at him cautiously. She was good at pushing people, but Klaus didn't look like he was in the mood to be pushed.

'And what would you know about maintaining relationships for a thousand years with people who know of nothing but the art of backstabbing?' Klaus snapped, turning to her sharply. She raised a brow at him.

'Well, I'd say that I have about double the experience than you do, as I've been around for two thousand years and I have both of my brothers standing by my side.'

Klaus narrowed his eyes. 'What?'

It was a tense silence for a good five minutes, before Chester opened his mouth.

'You keep your mother in that locked coffin,' he stated, looking Klaus in the eye. He said nothing.

Dahlia looked surprised, before she started putting the pieces together. She took a few steps towards Klaus, looking up at him. He bore down at her, his jaw tense. 'Nothing means more to you than family,' she whispered. 'And she knows how to kill you.'

'Of course,' Brogan contemplated, 'what else could it be..?' He trailed off. Turning to Chester, he had a cheeky grin on his face. 'Ten points to you, bro, you clever bastard.' Chester simply smiled in return.

At this point, Daniel had come in to inspect the coffins. Again, Dahlia noticed, he wasn't very good at taking the temperature of the room. Maybe that was a good thing this time, because Klaus looked about ready to fly off the handle at the triplets (not that it would get him very far). They took Daniel's interruption as opportunity to retreat.

'You've finally got your family back,' Daniel noted, looking at the coffins. 'You gonna open them?'

'Not quite yet,' Klaus growled. 'I still have some unfinished business to take care of.'

'What business?' Daniel asked. Klaus never had a chance to answer. Daniel began choking in pain, before he collapsed to the floor.

He's hot, Dahlia thought.

Behind Daniel's corpse stood a good looking man wearing a suit. He had strong features – a firm jawline and a cleft chin; dark, deep-set eyes; he was quite yummy, she thought. The family got lucky.

'So, Niklaus,' he said, facing his brother, whose eyes were wide in surprise.

'Elijah?' Klaus breathed, his face knotted in shock and worry.

'What did I miss?'

* * *

Looking at the triplets curiously, he took note of their casual stances. The girl was leaning against a doorway with her arms folded. Another, wearing a nice suit shirt and dark jeans, was leaning against the other side with his hands in his pockets and the last male was crouched against the wall with his elbows resting on his knees.

They looked awfully casual – something very rarely seen around a man such as Klaus. More often than not, even Klaus' closest allies stayed tense in his presence. These people, Elijah noticed, did not.

'I see you have made some friends in my absence, Niklaus,' Elijah noted. 'More hybrids?'

The girl snorted in response. 'We've only just met, duck, you don't have to insult me _quite_ so soon. I thought you were the gentlemanly brother,' she commented, a cheeky gleam in her eyes. Raising an eyebrow, Elijah turned back to his brother.

'You look surprised to see me. So it wasn't you that removed the dagger from my chest?'

The triplets had never seen Klaus so flustered. They felt that they were possibly intruding on a moment here – they knew first hand that vampiric familial confrontations either go completely calmly with no bumps, or have violence involved. Glancing at each other, they moved to the far wall quietly, choosing to observe from afar.

'You look like you could do with a drink,' Klaus stated quietly. His voice was trembling just enough for it to be noticeable. 'And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we-' he barely had time to gesture to the whiskey before Elijah attacked him.

'What a completely predictable reaction,' Dahlia said nonchalantly as Elijah threw Klaus threw the door. The new, barely 24-hours-old door. What a waste, thought Dahlia.

'Easy, I just finished renovating,' Klaus growled, before running at Elijah and throwing him into the table. There goes another priceless piece of furniture. 'You have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word, and I reunited you with our family.'

'What a completely wrong thing to say,' Dahlia deadpanned. It was doubtful that Klaus even heard her, because at that point, Elijah had attacked him again and had kicked him into the room full of coffins. Klaus flashed towards Kol's coffin and undaggered him, as he grabbed Elijah by the throat.

'Don't make this do this to you again, Elijah!' he barked, holding the dagger up as a threat.

'Come on, use it. I dare you,' Elijah breathed. 'You'll have Kol to deal with.'

The triplets had entered the room by this point, and Dahlia peered into the open coffin where Kol lay. She took note of his appearance – even in death, he was one of the best looking men she had seen in centuries. She felt a little bit of anticipation bubbling up in her stomach, and realised in surprise that she was attracted to the man and wanted to meet him. That was a very foreign feeling for her.

'Mikael is dead,' Klaus said, as he let Elijah go.

'What did you say?' Elijah exhaled, squaring up to meet his brother.

'I killed him. With his own weapon. He's gone, Elijah. Forever.'

Elijah looked happy for just a moment, before he gestured to the coffins.

'Why do our family remain in these coffins?' he snapped, 'Finn for over nine hundred years, Kol for over a century.'

'Because of Stefan Salvatore,' Klaus replied, 'He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them.'

Dahlia approached him, and put her hand on Klaus' shoulder. With a jolt, he realised that someone was actually _touching_ him willingly. In a non-violent fashion. It was gentle at first, but then her grip tightened.

'You should tell your siblings, Klaus. Or we'll tell them for you, because you'll never have your family back if you don't earn their forgiveness.'

Brogan and Chester gave nods of acknowledgement to Klaus and Elijah, before they headed for the door. It felt like a moment a bit _too_ important to be involved in, so they decided to leave.

Dahlia gave Klaus a gentle smile, before turning to Elijah.

'Nice to meet you,' she chirped, before spinning on her heel and grabbing her brother's arms. The three of them, arm in arm, walked away – they didn't notice the slight envy Klaus and Elijah had in their eyes, of witnessing a vampire family being genuinely close and affectionate with one another.

Plus, in that confusion, Klaus had conveniently forgotten about the bombshell the Lennox triplets had dropped on him just a few minutes ago.

* * *

Caroline wasn't picking up, so Dahlia left a message.

'Hey, Caroline,' she paused for a moment. 'My brothers and I are heading out to the little hill by Steven's Quarry tonight. We're going to camp out, make a bonfire and relax for a little bit – feel free to join us. Or just drink and go, it's up to you. See you later,' Dahlia finished, putting the phone down.

Right now she was in the car with Brogan and Chester. She was in the backseat with everything she had bought today, bar DVDs, in a bag next to her – she noticed happily that her brothers had finished making the skittle vodka when she went out, so there were many multicoloured drinks in the bag as well. She had Brogan's guitar at her feet and camping supplies in the boot – she was excited.

Pulling up at their location, the siblings quickly grabbed some supplies each and flashed up the hill towards Rason's resting place. They set up camp nearby and lit a huge fire – sitting around it, Brogan was strumming his guitar and Dahlia was singing softly. Dahlia had a bottle of Pink Grapefruit skittle vodka in her hand, and was swaying from side to side. Chester had the Mandarin flavour one, whilst Brogan had orange flavour at his feet. They drank for a little while, sang, and when they got drunk enough, Chester and Dahlia started to dance.

With Dahlia singing, her and Chester swayed against each other as Brogan strummed his guitar softly. Chester, although mostly quiet, joined her when it was needed.

'_I hope, I hope you smile,_' she sang – properly this time. '_When you look down on me – I hope you smile. This can't, we won't know,_' she quieted for a moment, '_I hope that I make you proud._'

Chester joined in with her. '_This is not what it is, only baby scars, I need your love, like a boy needs his mother's side. This is not what it is only baby scars, I need your love, like a boy needs his mother's side, yeah.'_

Each sibling had their eyes closed and failed to notice a visibly upset Caroline Forbes approaching them. Her eyes were misty as she took in the group.

She felt a guilty being here, knowing that her dad was in the hospital – but she couldn't look at him in that state anymore. She needed a break.

It took a few seconds, but each sibling finally opened their eyes and looked at the pretty blonde across the field.

Swaying slightly, Dahlia reached her hand out towards Caroline who walked towards her and grabbed it. She pulled her towards her brothers, saying nothing and grabbed a yellow bottle of vodka out of the bag, throwing it towards Caroline and doing the same thing with a big bag of Reese's Pieces, a bag of chocolate M&M's and a bag of mini peanut butter cups.

In the background, Brogan had began playing _Hakuna Matata_ on his guitar, a smile slowly spreading across his face. When the girls realised this, they laughed and started to sing.

Despite everything that was going on in Mystic Falls that night, they had a good time and they sang until the birds joined them in the morning.

* * *

**AN:**

That was so hard to write. Damn. It was really hard to get the triplets involved in the episode because the majority of it featured Elena and Bonnie when they went to see Abby - so I had to add a bit of the next one in there to make it slightly more interesting. Sorry about that!

But it's finally getting to the point of the story where Dahlia's love interest kicks in! Yay! Now I have more to work with.

As for Dahlia & Klaus, I did debate coupling them for a little bit before I actually started writing, but I'm not sure if that'll be a good match. Klaus and Dahlia don't have the right kind of chemistry I don't think, and would be much better suited as close friends and adoptive siblings. Caroline is definitely more the kind of girl, in my opinion, that would get through to Klaus in a better way. After being alive for so long, each sibling has a darker side (which you can glimpse into, looking at when Dahlia killed Tony). I think Caroline's innocence would be much better for him.

But thank you so much for the reviews! I'm super happy that you guys are enjoying it. I reached 1000 views today (woo!) which is very exciting. (:

I've got the next two chapters planned out, so hopefully I should be able to get those out soon.

**Review/Favourite/Follow/PM! I love any kind of input. (:**

Outfits (on Polyvore):

Dahlia's day outfit throughout the chapter:  
/dahlias_outfit_chapter/set?id=123927082

Dahlia's bonfire outfit:  
/dahlias_bonfire_outfit_chapter/set?id=123952584


	9. Chapter 9

**Music:**

**Not The American Average (J Rabbit Remix) – Asking Alexandria**

**Nightmare (Toddzilla Remix) – Avenged Sevenfold **

**Radioactive – Imagine Dragons**

**Requiem**** for a Dream – Mubanga Remix**

* * *

Dahlia sat up with a groan, holding onto her throbbing skull. It was far too bright in this tent and they had consumed far too much alcohol the night before. She wasn't feeling too great.

She contemplated the night before, remembering that Caroline had turned up. Looking to her left, she saw that Caroline had left. Grabbing her phone, the time '10:43' stared at her glaringly. Fabulous.

Shuffling her way out of her sleeping bag, she changed into some fresh clothes she'd brought along with her and grabbed a pair of sunglasses before she made her way outside.

It was a bit of a mess out here. She was greeted by a mass amount of empty vodka and tequila bottles, a burnt out pile of wood and the sight of Chester sprawled over a log. Giggling slightly, she started gathering up the mess and put it back in the other bag they had brought with them when her phone went off.

'_So I just wanted to thank you for helping me get that coffin out,_' Damon said on the other line. '_And I'm guessing you managed to talk Klaus out of killing me, which is nice too. I hear you're all buddy-buddy now._'

'He's not that bad,' Dahlia replied, sticking the bottles in a bin bag.

'_What, so you're on Klaus' side now?_'

Dahlia sighed. 'I'm not on sides, Damon.'

'_Sure feels like it,_' Damon muttered, unhappy.

'Oh, okay, mister man-period, if I was on his 'side' then would I have moved that coffin for my friend who had asked me oh-so-nicely?' she mocked, tying up the bag and flying over to her car.

'_Maybe not. Where are you anyway?_' he questioned, hearing the clinking of bottles.

'By Steven's Quarry. We had a bonfire last night.' She leaped back up into the air, being sure to stay fairly low so she didn't lose signal. Glancing down, she spotted Damon in the distance in a meadow not too far from her. She quietly flew in that direction.

'_How convenient! I happen to be there as well, Dahlia my dear,_' he answered cheerfully. He'd failed to notice that Dahlia had hung up at this point.

'Small world,' she said from above him. Taking a moment to think, he realised that the voice didn't come from his phone. He looked around in confusion.

'Up here, dumbass.'

Dahlia wasn't flying anymore. She was simply stood in the air, looking down at him.

Squinting his eyes slightly because of the sun, he tilted his head at her. 'What the hell are you doing up there?'

Shrugging slightly, she answered. 'Fresh air for the hangover.' She jumped down and landed quietly, just as Elijah appeared in the meadow. His face was twisted in curiosity, having just witnessed the girl _stand in mid-air_. Well, she's most definitely not a hybrid, he concluded. But what was she?

Damon spoke before Elijah had time to contemplate further.

'Elijah! My favourite Original, back from the dead!' Damon exclaimed dramatically, taking in the man in front of him. 'Clean up nice.'

Dahlia nodded, smiling at him slightly. 'Hello, Elijah,' she greeted and he nodded at her in acknowledgement.

'I didn't realise that you were agreeable with the Salvatore's as well, considering you were at Niklaus' mansion when I was awakened,' Elijah commented, looking at her.

She simply laughed and waved him off dismissively, whilst Damon chimed in none-too-cheerfully, 'She doesn't pick sides. Unfortunately. Because if she did, I'd win,' his tone was smug.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Dahlia have him a hard shove in the cheek. With a loud 'oomph' and a small 'crack', Damon landed several feet away, his cheekbone slightly askew. 'What the hell was that for?!'

'You're annoying,' she replied, looking down at him.

Elijah watched the interaction with interest, before he pulled out a piece of paper. 'You left something in my jacket pocket,' he said, directing it at Damon who was currently rubbing his healing cheek and grumbling under his breath as he stood upright.

'Oh, yeah. 'Dear Elijah, let's get together and plot the destruction of your brother.''

'XOXO?' Dahlia chimed in, eyes gleaming.

'Damon,' Elijah finished, looking at her.

She laughed and clapped her hands together. 'Ah, I guessed right! One point to me.'

'Was I right to undagger you or are we gonna have a problem?' Damon asked, his expression fixed into a hard stare. Elijah looked at him, a small smirk on his face.

'I'm here,' he said. 'Let's talk.'

Damon looked slightly more satisfied, although untrusting of the sly Original. 'I'll start with an easy question,' he paused, 'Any idea what kind of Klaus killing weapon could be magically sealed in a mystery coffin?'

'I was not aware there was another coffin,' Elijah stated, looking at Damon carefully, 'And if there was, I would not be able to tell you what it contained. I do not know.'

'Great!' Damon cheered dramatically. 'Back to square one.'

Dahlia looked at the interaction between them, with raised eyebrows. 'Seriously?'

They turned to her, questioning looks on their faces. 'You seriously can't work out what's in the coffin?'

'You _know_?' Damon breathed, voice in disbelief. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'You didn't ask,' Dahlia dismissed. 'But back on topic, you really can't guess what's in there?' She looked at Damon. 'Did what I tell you outside of Elena's mean _nothing_ to you? You should listen to me, you know that, you fucking tit.'

'Just tell me what it is!' Damon whined.

'No, I don't think I will,' Dahlia laughed. 'Chester figured it out in ten minutes. If you can't figure it out then you don't deserve to know. Plus I don't really want him dead,' she pondered aloud, much to the surprise of Elijah.

'I'm amazed. Most people would jump at the chance to kill him,' he stated, looking at her.

'He's done nothing to me, I have no interest in killing him,' she laughed. 'Perhaps you should re-enact a good, old, mafia-style sitdown for later on tonight.'

Damon looked up in interest. 'What, call a fake truce?'

'Or a real one, either one would do,' she nodded.

'That doesn't sound like too bad of a plan,' Elijah said slowly, considering it.

Dahlia pulled a packet of cigarettes out and lit one, turning to the two men. 'So, what should I bring? Banoffee pie? Wine?' she asked casually. The men looked at her blankly. 'What? Me and my brothers are good company!' she defended. 'And I won't be so underdressed,' she added as an afterthought, taking in Elijah's suit.

Damon looked at her cigarette in disdain. 'When was the last time you fed?'

She thought for a minute. 'About three days.'

* * *

Dahlia always appreciated a good shower. There was nothing more relaxing in the world than a good power shower.

Especially since she was hung over earlier. She supposed that was one of the vampiric traits – things like hangovers only stay for a half hour, tops.

The fact that her brothers were taking an _age_ to get ready was rapidly pushing her back into a mood.

'We're _late!_' she bellowed up the stairs. 'Hurry the _fuck up_! You are _men,_ not _little girls getting ready for the school dance!' _

'Sheesh, mardarse,' Brogan laughed, walking down the stairs. 'What's the rush?'

'We're picking up the Salvatore's and then going to the Original house. And we're going to play '_The Godfather_'. Are you really going to wear a beanie to dinner?'

'Mafia sit-down?' Brogan questioned hopefully. 'And yes, yes I am.'

Dahlia nodded, a smirk on her face.

'Fuck yes!'

Dahlia laughed. 'Chester, if you're not in the car in two minutes, _I will tear your spine out of your body!_'

Ten minutes later, they had pulled up to the front of the Salvatore house – Chester nestled unhappily in the back, trying to fix his hair whilst cussing the existence of his sister.

'You, Stefan and Elijah should be BMA's,' Dahlia commented, and Brogan snorted. Chester narrowed his eyes.

'Do I dare ask why?'

'You all have floofy hair,' she said, getting out of the car and heading towards the house quickly – before _he _could tear _her_ spine out.

She heard the Salvatore's upstairs, so she headed up. Damon was holding up two shirts and Stefan was walking towards him.

'Get dressed, we're going out.'

'Yeah, sorry, not interested,' Stefan replied, his voice bland.

'I didn't ask. Elijah and I have scheduled a very old-fashioned sitdown with you and Klaus,' Damon replied, smirking.

'And you're not going to give me credit where it's due, Day?' Dahlia enquired, walking into the room. Damon and Stefan's eyes stopped at her for just a moment, appraising her. She looked _good_, and she knew it. Their eyes seemed to be drawn to the inch of skin that was displayed between her top and her skirt.

Looking at Stefan's shirt options, she pointed at the black one. 'If you're still on revenge mode,' Dahlia rolled her eyes, 'Go with the black one. You look more villainy.'

'Klaus won't make a deal, you all know that. Don't you?' Stefan said, an eyebrow raised. By this point, Brogan and Chester had appeared in the room as well.

'He doesn't have to,' Damon replied, 'All we're doing is buying a little time to give our wicked witches a chance to pop off the top of the coffins!' he announced brightly.

'So that's your .. plan,' Stefan snorted in disbelief, 'Stall Klaus.'

'If you didn't go postal on his hybrids, then maybe we'd have some options,' Damon replied testily.

'So you unleashed an Original to help him out?' Stefan demanded.

'Undaggering Elijah was smart, Stefa. Are you kidding me? After what Klaus did to him? He's on vengeance mode.' Damon paused for a moment. 'It's perfect.'

'There's nothing smart about trusting Elijah, Damon,' he sounded like he was talking to a four year old, 'He screwed us over the last time he promised to help us kill Klaus.'

'Yeah, well, the way you've been acting, I trust him as much as I trust you,' Damon snapped.

'Hm, well I guess that goes both ways, doesn't it?' Stefan replied sarcastically, a smile on his face.

'Fuck me sideways,' Dahlia groaned, 'What're you doing now? Fighting about the girl?'

The Salvatore's turned to her.

'Next thing you're gonna do is get your dicks out and compare sizes. Fuck this. You, Damon,' she pointed at him, 'shouldn't of kissed Elena whether you had reason to or not. And _you_,' pointing at Stefan, 'should be angry with nobody but yourself because you _gave_ him the reason to, just like you gave Klaus reason to carry on threatening you all. You're a bloody idiot, Stefan, and I don't have time for your bitchfits. Get a fucking smile on your face. We're leaving. Get in the car.'

Stefan glared at her dangerously, the muscle in his jaw jumping, his eyes darkening. Dahlia raised an eyebrow at him, before she flashed over to him.

'Do _not_ challenge me, Stefan,' she breathed in his ear. 'Just _don't_.'

She grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him to the car, muttering curses as she went. Brogan, Chester and Damon followed behind her, snickering madly.

* * *

Arriving at the mansion, Dahlia still hadn't removed her hand from Stefan's ear. His back was aching to crack, seeing as he had been bent down to her level the _entire _car ride – she'd elected to sit in the back, in the middle, where she could keep her hand on his ear. She yanked him none-too-gently towards the door, and he could swear that she was literally tearing his ear off.

What was scary was that he wouldn't put it past her to do so. She hadn't even looked at him.

Feeling a bit cruel, she shoved Stefan's face into the door – an alternative to knocking, she thought. Brogan let out a loud belly laugh at the sight, and Damon tried to feel sorry for his brother.

He was really struggling to feel bad about this.

As the door opened, they were greeted with a smile by Elijah whose expression changed to one of surprise when he saw Dahlia and Stefan.

Hesitantly, he called out to his brother. 'Niklaus, our guests have arrived.'

'Damon, Stefan. And what a lovely surprise, Dahlia and her brothers,' he took her free hand and kissed the back of it. 'I see you've taken controlling Stefan into your own hands?' He nodded briefly at her Brogan and Chester, who smiled in acknowledgement. 'Elijah tells me you seek an audience – very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilised men, shall we?' he glanced at Dahlia, 'and women, although I am curious as to why you and your brothers are here.'

'Morbid curiosity,' she answered, her tone dark as dragged Stefan towards the table that Klaus had set up. She forcefully pushed him down in the chair, and barked out a 'Stay, boy,' at him before wiping the blood from his ear onto his shirt.

Stefan, mildly relieved to be released from the madwoman's hold, turned to Klaus. 'I didn't come here to eat, Klaus. In fact, I didn't want to come here at all.'

Klaus let out a chuckle, 'Yes. I can see that.'

'But,' Stefan continued, 'I was told I had to, because you would hear us out.'

'Well, we can sit and eat or I can reach down you and your brother's throat and pull out your insides – the choice is yours.'

Quietly, the occupants of the room sat down in their respective chairs. Dahlia elected to sit next to Stefan, and placed the heel of her shoe carefully on his foot. A silent warning.

It was quiet for a little while, Dahlia pressing her foot dangerously hard against Stefan's as they all ate and enjoyed the wine. The best thing about being in Klaus' company is the alcohol, Dahlia thought.

'You lost your appetite?' Klaus questioned amusedly.

Damon rolled his eyes as Dahlia's shoe began to penetrate skin. Stefan winced slightly as his brother spoke, 'Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home.'

Without a word, Stefan picked up his knife and fork, smiling sarcastically. His gaze lingered at Dahlia's for just a moment, as if proving a point – she looked back with an uncharacteristic impassive stare, which didn't go unnoticed. Nevertheless, Klaus continued.

'That's the spirit. Isn't it nice? All of us dining together? It's such a treat,' he paused. 'Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?'

'Well,' Damon said dramatically, 'I know how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier.' He waved at the triplets. 'This would be exhibit B.'

'Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the centuries, but we always make it through,' Klaus smiled.

Most of the table missed the barely noticeable jump in Elijah's jaw, but the triplets didn't. Their eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

'Kind of like you and Rebekah, right?' Stefan prodded. 'Where is she, by the way? Last I checked, she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her.'

'If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah.'

Dahlia looked at him with a genuine smile at this point and clapped. 'Yay! You took a small step forward today,' she said, tapping him on the hand.

'Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad?' Damon deadpanned. 'Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert.'

Stefan was rapidly losing his patience. 'We're here to make a deal, Damon – doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses.'

'I'm just saying we have a long evening ahead of us,' Damon replied, sipping his drink. 'Pace yourself.'

Chester looked at them all. 'A lesson on arse kissing would be good for you, Stefan. Maybe then you'll learn how to treat people without having the whole world turn against you,' he commented, finishing his wine and drawing a small giggle from Dahlia. She opened her mouth to speak, as her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she raised an eyebrow before excusing herself and leaving the room. Her brothers simply shrugged and allowed her to walk away. The rest of the table followed her, eyes curious.

* * *

'Caroline? Are you alright?'

'_My dad's in transition,_' she whispered, her voice shaky.

Dahlia was stunned into silence for a moment. 'What?'

'_A doctor fed him vampire blood to heal him. He got angry and stormed out of the hospital – he got hit by a car last night.'_ Caroline sniffed, obviously distressed. '_Dahlia he doesn't want to complete the transition. I need to force him to feed, Dahlia._'

Dahlia shushed her gently. 'Caroline, sweetheart, you can't do that,' she said. 'Just because you prefer being a vampire, doesn't mean everyone else will.'

'_But he's my dad,_' Caroline sobbed. '_He would've never been in the hospital if he didn't try to help Tyler. He did that so I could be with him, Dahlia, it's all my fault!'_

'Don't be silly, baby girl. He did it because he loves you. He wanted to give you the choice of being or not being with Tyler, without other circumstances getting in the way.' Dahlia paused. 'I think you should give him the same choice, Care.'

Caroline let out a strangled sob, sniffling slightly. 'You'll be okay. Do you need me to come over?'

'_No, it's okay,_' she said quietly. '_Elena's here, I just wanted to know what you think about it._'

'Okay then. Give me a call if you need anything, I'll come right over, alright?'

'_Thank you, Dahlia. You seem to look after me a lot._' Caroline laughed weakly.

'It's fine. You go do what you have to do,' she replied softly, before hanging up. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a second, before taking a deep breath and she headed back into the room.

* * *

Taking her place at the table, she looked around at the table and felt the thick tension around her.

'Sorry about that. I take it I've missed something.'

'Whilst you were off playing mother hen to Blondie, we were just discussing Elena and her absence,' Damon replied, his voice curt.

Dahlia scrunched her nose. 'Eurgh.'

Brogan leaned over. 'Elijah described Elena as _lovely_.' He whispered in her ear, and her face twisted into an expression of disgust.

'I suppose that men do get a kick out of a damsel in distress act,' she droned, taking a sip of her wine.

'Ah, love, it's just the allure of the Petrova doppelganger. Staying ever so strong throughout the centuries, it seems. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?' Klaus smirked.

Elijah looked uncomfortable. 'Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?'

'Well, given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina, Ithink our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line.'

'Great.' Dahlia deadpanned. 'What a fabulous dinner conversation.'

'Well, we're not going anywhere Elijah. Please, do tell.' Damon drawled, finishing his wine. With a sigh, Elijah started.

'When our family first settled here, there was a girl named Tatia. She was an exquisite beauty – every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she'd had a child by another man,' he paused. 'And none loved her more than Niklaus.'

'Oh,' he smirked, 'I'd say there was one who loved her at least as much.'

'Wait a minute,' Stefan laughed darkly, 'So you both loved the same girl?'

Without warning, Dahlia jammed her heel through his foot, drawing a sickening crack and a pained gasp from Stefan.

'Mind your tone, Stefan, we're having dinner,' she said nonchalantly, picking at her food. Her brothers laughed as Stefan stared her down – Elijah simply glanced at them, before he continued with the story.

'Our mother was a very powerful witch. She sought to end our feud over Tatia, and so she took her. Klaus and I would later learn that it was Tatia's blood that we consumed in the wine on the night were our mother performed the spell, which turned us into vampires. Tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time, Niklaus and I,' He paused to consider his words before he continued, 'grew estranged. Harsh words were traded. We even came to blows, didn't we, brother?'

'But in the end we realised the sacred bond of family,' he replied softly.

Unconsciously, Dahlia had taken Brogan's hand under the table. He squeezed it gently, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

'Family above all,' Elijah said.

'Family above all.' Klaus replied, as they clinked their glasses together.

'Well, I can understand the Petrova appeal,' Dahlia said, looking to Chester who looked extremely uncomfortable. The waitress had filled his glass three times in the last five minutes. She observed him for a moment before she continued. 'Doesn't make any of them any less _annoying._'

'Oh?' Klaus asked, eyebrow raised. 'And what would you know of the Petrova allure, Dahlia?'

She looked to Chester, who nodded minutely. She directed her eyes to the group again, her head never leaving Brogan's shoulder.

'We came across Katerina in the sixteen hundreds, about four hundred years ago. Chester, here,' she gestured towards her brother, 'brought home a beautiful girl one night. She had been a vampire for about a century, and she held an undeniable appeal to all of us – including myself.' Dahlia took a breath, before she continued.

'I have to say, I admired Katerina because of her fight. She wasn't one to wait for everyone else to save her. She would do whatever it took to survive, even if it might twist and curse everyone around her. But I digress.'

'I was in love with Katerina Petrova,' Chester spoke, swirling his wine in his glass. The eyebrows of the men raised in surprise, but Chester continued. 'My siblings and I had worked extremely hard _not _ to draw attention to ourselves throughout the years. When I brought Katerina home – the first person in centuries – I definitely didn't expect the type of attention we would gather.'

'She stayed with us for about four years,' Brogan said, rubbing circles on his sister's hand. The two sets of brothers looked the hands on top of the table, observing the obviously close and protective relationship between them all and feeling the slight spark of envy flaring up. 'After about a year, we heard rumours of Katerina – how she was staying with three unknown vampires, and no matter where we went, attention was being brought upon us. That was the exact opposite of what any of us, including Chester, wanted.'

'We spelled her. We put her into a sleep for a two weeks, and left. We never heard from her again – after so long in hiding, when it's us three on our own, we're almost impossible to track down,' Chester said. 'We continued to hear rumours, however. Until we moved here, I hadn't seen her for four hundred years.'

'Plus,' Dahlia sniped, 'After we left we heard of several affairs she'd had throughout the time she was with Chester. Her specialty of holding several men at once, I'm sure you all know. And to this day, she still fears that I'm going to kill her.'

'And why is that?' Elijah questioned, eyes trained on the girl.

'Because I can,' she said softly, lifting her head from Brogan's shoulder and finishing her wine. 'She hurt my brother.'

'I am curious of your roots,' Elijah stated. They intrigued him – whilst they seemed like normal vampires, years of experience led him to believe otherwise. 'Would you care to share your story?'

'Oh, I would love to,' Dahlia smirked, 'Although I believe tonight was intended for the men at this table to negotiate a deal which would allow them to stop their pissing contest. Perhaps another time.'

'Why don't we move this evening along and discuss this proposal?' Stefan said, his voice hard. His patience was wearing extremely thin.

Casting another glance at the siblings, Elijah let it go – for now. 'Indeed. Damon?'

'That's very simple,' he started, looking up at his phone. 'Klaus gets his coffin back. In exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges.'

Elijah considered it. 'The deal sounds fair, brother.'

Klaus shook his head. 'I don't think you understand. Elena's doppelgänger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind,' he stared into Stefan's eyes, before he stood up and began to pace. 'Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is,' he paused, 'the two of you.

Dahlia gave him a hard look. 'Really?'

He looked at her, smirking slightly. 'What, love?'

'Nothing, just your insane control issues and inability to _let the fuck go_,' she said nonchalantly. She waved her hands in a 'come on' gesture. 'But please, continue.'

'Actually,' Damon interrupted, 'I'm gonna go get some air.'

Elijah stood to follow. 'Let me deal with this.'

Chester and Dahlia stood up to follow, and Klaus gave them a suspicious look that didn't go unnoticed by Dahlia.

'You two look like you need a moment alone.'

'And I'm not finished with my dinner yet,' Brogan snickered, gesturing over the compelled waitress. 'Could you get me another steak, love? Extra rare.'

* * *

Brogan watched Stefan as Klaus fed on the waitress, enjoying his third and final bloody steak. Stefan was trying very hard to resist, he noticed. That's interesting. Brogan felt the sneaking suspicion that Stefan was off human blood for the moment – perhaps _that's_ why he's more intolerable than usual.

'Delicious,' Klaus mocked, 'Aged to perfection.'

'Well I guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, Klaus, is to drive a wedge between me and my brother.'

'Oh, no. You're doing that well enough on your own. Because of Elena, you're gonna lose your brother and you'll only have yourself to blame.' Klaus laughed.

Brogan considered that for a moment. 'You know what, I disagree with you,' he stated, looking between them both before focusing on Stefan. 'I don't think it's because of Elena, because he's not getting his revenge on you _for_ her right now. He's doing it because he pushed her away, and now he has nothing left. So he blames you.'

There was no time to push that answer further, as Damon, Elijah, Chester and Dahlia entered at that moment.

'What do you say, Klaus?' Damon asked, ignoring the tension in the room. 'It's time for _you_ to put something on the table. We've made our offer, now you counter.'

Klaus considered for a moment, before answering with a smile. 'Okay. I offer Elena's future happiness. You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot, and to fall in love with a human. Maybe that nice football player – y'know, that blonde one?'

Damon looked at him in disbelief. 'Matt Donovan? Really?'

'Yeah, why not? They'll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family.' Klaus sounded happy with himself.

'And continue the Petrova bloodline,' Stefan finalised. 'Every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelganger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right Klaus?'

'Consider it a small return on my investment in her well-being. See, after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life,' his eyes narrowed, 'You know what's best for her.'

Klaus walked to Stefan, holding his hand out. 'What do you say, Stefan, do we have a deal?'

He got up and walked towards Klaus, grabbing his hand. Damon snapped out a, 'What are you doing?!' as Stefan looked Klaus in the eye.

'Nice try, Klaus. But no deal.'

Klaus breaks his arm. He kicks his leg, breaking that as well before sticking Stefan's hand in the fireplace, letting it burn. Damon, in an attempt to save his brother, is pushed back by Elijah. By this point, the triplets had stood up, although in not much concern – Klaus wouldn't do anything just yet. Not yet.

'What are you doing?' Damon yelled, watching the fire spread up his brother's arm. Stefan was groaning in pain by this point. 'Stop!'

'Bring me my coffin before I burn him alive,' Klaus retorted darkly.

'I'll get it,' Damon caved, causing Elijah to let him go.

Klaus looked at his brother. 'Go with him, brother, you keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you and I will had over our family.

* * *

Dahlia watched with pity at how little of a fight Stefan was putting up against Klaus. He was simply lay there, allowing the fire to creep up his arm.

'Go ahead and kill me,' Stefan choked out. 'I know you'll do it when he brings the coffin.'

Klaus pulled him out of the fireplace, laughing at him.

'You really have given up, haven't you? Where's the fight? Where's the _ripper_?'

He pushed Stefan, and he finally retaliated. Stefan finally pushed back, when Elijah and Damon came back into the room.

Klaus glared at Elijah. 'Elijah, why haven't you left?'

'Where are your manners, brother?' he mocked, 'We forgot dessert.'

He pulled the cloth off of the plate the compelled waitress was carrying, revealing two daggers.

Dahlia inhaled a sharp breath, glancing over to Klaus. She watched his smug expression turn into one of fear. 'What have you done?'

'What have _you _done?' Elijah countered. 'You see, I've learnt not to trust your vulgar promises. We're doing this on my terms now.'

Dahlia watched as a tall, sandy blonde-haired man walked into the room with a slight smirk on his face. She regarded him with interest – he looked a little like Elijah, but he was in his own league of attractiveness. Dahlia felt a uncharacteristic nervousness in the pit of her stomach, and followed him carefully with her eyes.

'Hello, brother,' he spoke, his smirk planted firmly in place. It's unconfirmed, but Dahlia _may _have melted into a puddle right there. His voice was like silk, she thought, swallowing deeply.

'Kol.'

Her head snapped back to Klaus as she heard the tremble in his voice. He wasn't just scared anymore, she realised. He's absolutely terrified.

Chester put his arm around Dahlia protectively, as Brogan held onto her hand tightly. They were all focused on the scene before them, analysing every movement.

Klaus began to back away, when a brunette man in Viking clothing appeared, a deranged look of rage on his face as he held a dagger up to Klaus in threat.

'Finn, don't!' Klaus barely managed to get that out before Finn stabbed him through the hand, causing Klaus to let out a muted yell. He turned back to run, where Dahlia noticed with joy that Rebekah had appeared. She had her own dagger in her hand, swiftly stabbing him in the stomach.

'This is for our mother,' she breathed, as Klaus fell to the floor.

Brogan looked on at Rebekah with his jaw slightly open, and he let out a low wolf-whistle, waggling his eyebrows suggestively when she looked at him for just a second, before pushing Klaus away and into Kol's arms where he swiftly restrained the older brother. Dahlia gave him a swift jab in the kidney with her elbow, causing him to grunt and fall on his knees, glaring up at his sister. She simply smiled at him and patted his head.

'You're free to go,' Elijah said, turning to the guests. This is family business.'

'Dahlia can stay,' Rebekah interrupted quickly, shooting her a smile before turning back and glaring at her brother. Dahlia smiled right back, eyes gleaming in happiness.

Rebekah's interest in her drew attention from the rest of the family, who hadn't seen the two girls together yet. Looking around her, she noticed Chester standing outside waiting for his brother to join him. Brogan, on the other hand, leaned down to Dahlia.

'_That's_ what she wore for homecoming and you didn't _tell_ me?!' he whisper-yelled in his sister's face.

She scrunched her nose slightly, smelling garlic, alcohol and blood on his breath – not a good combination – which caused her to lean back ever so slightly in disgust with her head turned away.

'Your thing for blondes may have just slipped my mind,' she retorted sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him. His glare hardened, and he opened his mouth to retort, but she beat him to it. 'What're you doing here now anyways? You're not invited, big bro. Shoo. Go home.'

He carried on glaring at her. With a sigh, she took him by the shoulders and spun him around so he was facing the door. Both his and Chester's eyes widened when they realised what she was going to do. The Original family watched with mild interest as she marched him out to the doorstep.

'Dahlia- now, love, this isn't necessary-' Brogan's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when Dahlia stopped him and he heard the faint rustle of her skirt as she moved her foot back. 'No no no no no, Dah-AAH!'

Letting go of his shoulders, Dahlia gave a swift kick upwards onto his backside and watched as he flew into the air in a graceful arc, grinding to a halt with a screeching sound – similar to the noise cars make when they skid - about twenty feet above the mansion. The Originals heard a faint '_You fucking twat! You stabbed me in the arse!_' from a small distance away, and looked on as Dahlia waved up at the sky.

'Well, at least you didn't make a dent in the car the shape of his body this time,' Chester laughed softly, giving his sister a kiss on the forehead. 'Do you want the car?'

'I'll drive it home later,' she replied, dismissing her brother. He shrugged and turned on his heel, jumping into the air. They heard a faint, 'Shut the fuck up and _move_, you're bleeding everywhere,' come out of Chester's mouth that swiftly quieted Brogan's stream of curses as Dahlia closed the door. She walked back in and took a seat, resting her elbows against the armchair and leaning back. Her knees were spread open slightly, causing the splits on either side of her dress to show her legs in the most distracting way. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kol was looking at her intently, glancing from her legs back up to her face. Her cheeks warmed ever so slightly, but she shrugged it off and waved her hand in a '_continue_' motion. They hadn't moved from their original positions, she noticed. Except from the fact that they were all _staring_ at her.

'Don't mind me, I'm just waiting for Becks.'

* * *

Rebekah walked around the room, inspecting it. Running her finger along a vase, she turned to her brother. 'I like what you've done with the new place, Nik,' she said, before throwing it at a painting against the wall causing it to swiftly fall on the floor.

It was at this moment that Dahlia realised, with a pang of sadness, just _how_ broken this family was. She could never imagine feeling this way towards her brothers.

Looking at Klaus, she felt even worse for him – she could never imagine her brothers feeling such hate towards _her_. The thought alone made her want to crawl up into a hole and cry.

'I wanted it to be for all of us,' he ground out, looking at the floor. 'A place we could all call home. A place we could all be a family.' Nik's voice started to crack. 'None of us would ever have to be alone again.'

Dahlia's eyebrows raised just slightly. That was what it was all about. That's why he was a raging control freak, and that's why he was so cruel to everyone.

He was too broken to realise that the reason why he was alone was because he made himself this way.

'Well you're right,' Elijah agreed. 'None of us will be.'

'You're staying behind,' Finn said, looking at the room around him. How disorientating it must be, lying in a box for nine hundred years then being thrown into the twenty first century, Dahlia noted.

'We're leaving you, Nik,' Rebekah said coldly as her and her siblings lined up together, 'Right after I kill that doppelganger wench, then you will be alone,' she tilted her head to the side, 'Always and forever.'

Dahlia looked at Kol, who was standing with his hands in his pockets with his jaw clenched. He looks sexy like that. Her eyes widened slightly before she shook her head, focusing again on the situation at hand.

'If you run, I will hunt all of you down,' he whispered. Dahlia stood up, slowly walking towards him.

'Then you'll become everything you hate,' Elijah retorted, 'Our father.'

'I'm the hybrid! I can't be killed!' he roared. Dahlia took another step towards him taking his arm. He tried to shove her off, to no avail. She yanked him towards her, and grabbed his jaw with her right hand, forcing him to look at her.

'You need to _remember_ what I told you, Niklaus,' she said through clenched teeth. '_Calm your tits._'

He growled at her, eyes flashing yellow. She pushed him away from her slightly, and he turned to his siblings. 'I have nothing to fear from _any_ of you,' he spat.

'You will when we have that coffin,' Elijah countered, staring him down.

Dahlia looked up in curiosity when she heard a door open, and looked at the blonde Viking woman with interest as she entered.

'Mother?' Rebekah breathed. Dahlia quickly stepped back to where she was previously, hearing the choked gasps of Nik and she opted to stay out of this one. She caught Esther's eye as she looked at Dahlia, and stared back with a stare equally as cold and calculating.

She did, however, turn away fairly swiftly before heading towards her son, standing in front of him.

He avoided her eyes. 'Look at me,' she said, the way only a mother could. He couldn't for a few moments. When he eventually did look her in the face, she asked him, 'Do you know why I'm here?'

Dahlia's heart broke slightly as she looked at Nik's face. Not once had she seen an expression so afraid, so pitifully _alone_.

'You're here to kill me,' he whispered brokenly.

'Niklaus, you are my son. And I am here to forgive you.' She turned back towards her family, who were staring at her in disbelief.

'I want us to be a family again,' she smiled.

Dahlia shook her head, before walking to the dining table and grabbing her clutch. Pulling out her cigarettes, she stuck one in her mouth before turning to Rebekah.

'I'll be outside, whenever you're ready to talk,' she said softly. Rebekah nodded slightly, and Dahlia walked out of the door with every eye in the room following her. Esther's eyes were narrowed slightly.

If her brothers were here, they would've noticed her change in attitude. Like her deep breathing, her clenched jaw, her heavier footsteps and the fact that she shut the door just a _tad_ too forcefully.

Nik probably would've noticed these things, but he was too overwhelmed.

Too much drama, she thought, lighting the cigarette at the bottom of the drive.

She didn't want to hear what they were talking about.

* * *

She had been outside for about twenty minutes, dragging out each cigarette as long as possible before immediately lighting another as one burnt out. She had her phone in her hand, and was group texting her brothers.

_D: Their mother's back. Says she wants to forgive them all._

_B: Do you believe her?_

_D: Not a chance in hell._

_C: Maybe she's feeling nice?_

_D: No fucking way. She was a witch that practiced natural magic, who died and ended up on the Other Side for a millenium, with thousands of unhappy witches with her. Do you honestly think she died without punishment?_

_C: Good point._

_B: The only way she'll be able to rest in peace is if she destroys what she created._

_D: Somehow, I think that's what she's planning on doing._

Hearing the front door open, she quickly typed one last message to her brothers.

_D: Gotta go, Original approaching._

_B: Be safe. We love you._

Putting her phone away and lighting another cigarette, she turned around and saw Rebekah approaching her. With a light smile, Dahlia walked up to her and gave her a long hug, looking at her appearance.

'Well, you look a bit disheveled, but you would've looked amazing at that dance, Becks.'

'Was it fun?' she questioned quietly, disappointed that she'd missed it.

'Well, no, not really,' Dahlia pondered. 'Your brother kind of took it over. I got the pleasure of ripping of Mikael's head though,' she smiled, 'That was dead fun.'

Rebekah let out a small laugh. 'Why didn't you undagger me?'

'It wasn't my business or place to do so,' Dahlia replied, receiving a raised eyebrow. She sighed. 'There's a lot of things you don't know about me and my family, Rebekah. I'm sure you'll learn the full amount of juicy details soon, but it's always been in our interest to stay out of other people's business. Does that make sense?'

With a resigned sigh, Rebekah nodded. She found it difficult to be angry at Dahlia, just because she was the only girl that had made an effort to be friends with her and not judged her because of her brother – she'd struggled to find anyone like that in the past thousand years, so maybe it was a good idea not to throw this person away just yet.

'Plus, if I'd undaggered you, your brother would probably be dead by now.'

Rebekah started in surprise. Now that she'd had time to calm down and her mother was back, guilt pooled in her stomach as she realised what she could've done. Suddenly, Dahlia not undaggering her was a much more appealing thought. Even if he was an arse, she'd decided that she didn't want him dead. Shaking her head, she decided to think about it later. 'So when _are_ you going to tell me all the juicy details and secrets?' Rebekah asked.

Dahlia chuckled, 'Maybe on a night slightly less dramatic than this,' she said, gesturing to the house. Rebekah nodded in understanding. As much as she wanted to know everything there was to know about Dahlia seeing as she was so full of mystery, she didn't think she could cope with any more information tonight.

'I actually wanted to ask you..' Rebekah trailed off. It was late, and there weren't any shops open and Rebekah didn't feel like going out of her way to do anything tonight.

'Clothes?' Dahlia questioned, a small smile on her face.

Rebekah nodded sheepishly. She wasn't used to asking anyone for anything.

She laughed, before taking Rebekah's hand. 'C'mon. I've went camping last night so I've got a few things in my car.'

She opened the boot and pulled out a gym bag full of clothes. Rifling through, she found some underwear and a large shirt – it was Brogan's – that could act as pyjamas. Looking through some more, Dahlia found some jeans that were too long for her (it was alright though because she folded up most of her jeans anyway) and a nice forest green chiffon blouse that would do for Rebekah's clothes tomorrow. She found an extra set of underwear as well, handing them over to Rebekah.

'The underwear's new, don't worry,' she smiled, pointing at the tags. 'You can keep those.'

Sighing gratefully, Rebekah turned back towards the house, asking silently whether she would like to come in. Dahlia shrugged. 'I best check on your brother, I suppose.'

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. 'Why do you care about him so much?' she questioned suspiciously. 'Are you two a _thing_ or something?'

Dahlia let out a loud laugh. 'Fuck no!' she answered. 'I just feel sorry for him.'

'Why? He's been nothing but an absolute arse to everyone around him for the past thousand years,' Rebekah replied bitterly.

'Well,' Dahlia pondered, 'I suppose it's because I can see where he's coming from, because I'm the third party observer with no personal interest.'

Rebekah tilted her head slightly in confusion, so Dahlia continued. 'When I look at him, I don't see a negative image at all because he's never done anything to hurt myself or my family. I just see a very angry, very insecure, very broken and lonely man that wants nothing more than acceptance. But he's never truly felt like he's been accepted. The sad part is, is that he has absolutely no idea how to get there - so, he turns to what he _does_ know, which involves backstabbing, manipulation and the ability to hurt people. Because, in his mind, that's all he's ever known.'

Rebekah looked at Dahlia, thinking about her perspective. It makes sense, Rebekah realised sadly. 'That's why he's this way?'

Dahlia looked at Rebekah. 'He's had a thousand years of rejection and hurt. Out of the entire family, _he_ was the one that was hunted, not you or Elijah or any other of your siblings and _he_ was the target of whatever misfortune fell upon you all. He's literally had salt rubbed into his wound for a thousand years, and it's driving him insane. But that's just my opinion,' Dahlia shrugged, 'He's not so bad otherwise.'

Walking through the doorway, the rest of the family looked up at her entering with Rebekah. Rebekah had Dahlia's clothes tucked under her arm. With a sigh, Rebekah gestured for Dahlia to follow, so she did.

She led the brunette to the study, where she could hear Nik's breathing. It's just one of those things that, after a set amount of time, you learn to recognise.

Turning back to Rebekah, she gave the blonde a firm hug. 'I'll drop the stuff you left at the boarding house off tomorrow sometime, alright?'

Rebekah nodded and turned away. With a sigh, she stepped opened the door to the study and saw Nik sketching.

Leaning against the doorway, she crossed her arms and observed him for a moment.

'How're you doing?' she asked.

He didn't bother to reply or turn around.

Taking a step in, she sat down next to him, pulled her shoes off and tucked her sore feet underneath her, she looked at what he was sketching.

He was sketching himself, from before he was turned. Beside him, he'd drawn the figures of his family, with the exception of Mikael. He drew his younger brother.

She slowly put her hand on the sketchpad, taking it gently out of his hands so that she didn't ruin the sketch. She removed the pencil from his hand next, and saw him looking at her intently. She leaned over and gave him a hug, as he stayed stock still, unsure of how to react.

'You've been through a lot, Nik. It's alright to feel,' she said gently, not letting go of him. 'It's okay to feel betrayed, or angry, or hurt, or alone.'

'I don't want to,' he whispered, slowly reaching his arms up to hug her back.

'Well, you do, honey, so you have to be a man and deal with it.' He was unsure of her embrace, she could feel it, so she gave him a little squeeze before she pulled away but she left her hands on his shoulders.

'The only way you'll earn forgiveness, is if you accept how you feel and then accept that that's how they felt, too.'

Nik looked at her in surprise.

'Remember what I said. They'll forgive you. It takes time, Nik, and you have an eternity of that as a vampire. But just because you have that time, it doesn't mean that you should keep doing things to hurt them. They're your family, and they'll stick by you if you do right by them whether they're physically at your side or not. You need to learn that, just because you're physically on your own, it doesn't mean that you're _alone_. You need to learn to let go of that control of yours, just slightly, so that you don't have to spend eternity alone. Nobody deserves that, not even you. You never know when someone you love will be torn away from you, and you if it's on a negative note, you'll regret that for the rest of your life,' she trailed off sadly.

Giving him a small smile, she gave him one last squeeze before she stood up and put her heels back on. She turned to walk out the door, when he stopped her.

'Dahlia,' he said gently, not looking up at her.

She looked back at him slightly, acknowledging him.

'Why have you started to call me Nik?'

Dahlia chuckled. 'Klaus is your evil villain name. I think we're a bit past that now, after watching all of this shit go down tonight. Plus, it flows off the tongue a lot better, don't you think?' she joked. As an afterthought, she turned back to him completely. 'Niklaus,' she said. He looked up at her this time, hearing his full name.

'You need to be careful,' she said. 'Before you've resolved everything with your family, _including_ your mother, you need to be careful.'

She stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly and letting him think.

She knew that the entire house had probably heard her, but at that point she was past the point of caring.

Stalking down the stairs, she could hear her heels loudly against the marble. She walked down the hallway, past where the rest of the family were sat. They looked up at her immediately.

'Thank you for your hospitality, Elijah,' she smiled, 'I'm pretty sure my brothers forgot their manners when they left.'

'You are quite welcome, Dahlia. And will we be having that talk about yourself and your brothers anytime soon?' Elijah asked, not forgetting about their conversation during dinner.

She was quiet for a moment before she replied. 'Perhaps,' she said, her eyes falling onto Esther who was watching her intently. 'When you've not got so many problems to deal with, we can talk. Your siblings can join if they like, it wouldn't surprise me if they shared the same morbid curiosity as you and your sister.'

Elijah followed her eyes quickly, noticing that Dahlia had never taken her eyes off of his mother, who was staring just as intently back.

Dahlia's gaze never wavered as she continued to speak. 'I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course, seeing as I share the same trait,' she smiled softly, finally removing her eyes from the Original witch.

'I'll drop your stuff off tomorrow sometime, Rebekah,' she said, before she cast a final glance at the family as she walked out the door.

Dahlia closed it quietly.

From what he had learned of her so far, Elijah noticed that she was strong, she was fearless, she was crass. She had the last word on almost all conversations. She held the respect of Niklaus (a feat in itself) and she appeared suspicious of his mother.

He wondered if he should be suspicious of his mother as well – Dahlia didn't seem like someone who was often wrong, despite her often immature and lighthearted ways.

Looking around at his family, his eyes fell on Kol.

He had an appreciative smirk on his face, his eyes glued to the spot where Dahlia had shut the door behind her after her exit.

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

* * *

**AN:**

This is a 14-page document, holy shit. I think I've given myself carpal tunnel and crossed eyes writing this, but that's okay because the Originals are finally awake! Now the ball can _really_ start rolling. I'm so excited! x.x  
Thank you for my lovely reviews. :3 I hope people can figure out who Dahlia's going to be paired with (and potentially another Original getting a love interest too?) from seeds I've planted in this chapter.  
I'm sorry if there's any mistakes in this - but my eyes are actually completely blurry right now. Let me know if there's any mistakes/unclear points that need to be sorted.

Enjoy!

**Review/Favourite/Follow/PM!**

Outfits (on Polyvore):

Dahlia's morning after camping outfit:  
/dahlias_morning_after_outfit_chapter/set?id=123959807

Dahlia's dinner outfit:  
/dahlias_dinner_outfit_chapter/set?id=123959607


	10. Chapter 10

**Music:**

**Rise – John Dreamer (Opening/Dahlia/Kol/Rebekah)**

**Vesper – Liar (Triplets/Esther)**

**Young & Beautiful – Lana Del Rey (Dahlia/Klaus, Dahlia/Kol)**

* * *

She'd slept on it, and she was still uneasy about Esther. Dahlia never had respect for witches that obeyed their _dead_ ancestors. They were dead for a reason, dammit. Who the fuck put them in charge of what was right or wrong?

It was for that very reason that the Lennox triplets had hidden for two thousand years. Despite the fact that they were relatively harmless, all the witches would be able to see was an unnatural occurrence in nature. An abomination. A thing to destroy.

And, for fuck sake, the more time passed, the _more_ of them there were and it was incredibly annoying. They used to be able to travel from village to village, avoiding witches more often than not. Even if they weren't familiar with the twins and their abilities, they would at least be able to recognise the Expression magic that coursed through their very souls which automatically drew the attention of _nature's servants_.

Now, they are fucking_ everywhere_. Christ, they were lucky that Bonnie was new enough not to recognise Expression when she saw it.

They were lucky that she didn't see the witches reactions to her and her siblings when they walked into the witch house.

Even though they were surprisingly tame.

Dahlia put it down to the fact that they had all died about a hundred years previous – give or take a couple of decades – and probably hadn't heard of the Lennox line. It did die out two thousand years before their time – plus a good century before the Other Side was established and _every bloody witch that died could gather together_. She would have to come across much older witches for them to _potentially_ recognise who they were.

Such as Esther, for example.

She had spoken to her brothers about the Original witch's sudden reincarnation when she'd got home, and like her, they were just as suspicious as she was. They were no stranger to the ghosts of the Other Side and were well aware of the vindictive nature of dead witches – especially against things they viewed as unnatural.

'Keepers of the balance'. Dahlia scoffed. What a load of bullshit.

Nevertheless, the Lennox family had decided to keep their guard up around Esther. They had been pretty good at deflecting danger and attention for the last two thousand years, what's another witch to add into the mix?

Oh, she was powerful enough to create a race and was packed full of hatred and revenge after undeniably being punished for it for a thousand years.

Right. Noted.

Maybe removing her would be something that the twins _were_ willing to get involved in. Up until this point, they had really not had any involvement with any planning whatsoever and had only dropped the occasional cryptic hint or clue, or given sarcastic responses to questions that were asked of them. It's actually quite hilarious how little common sense some of these people had.

Like Elijah not being able to figure out that it was his _mother_ in the coffin.

Dahlia put that down to being too wrapped up in vengeance to notice the obvious.

She sighed, pulling up to the Salvatore house. She'd promised to drop Rebekah's stuff off, after all.

* * *

It was with a raised eyebrow that she noticed the convoy people puling up the driveway when she arrived at Klaus' with Rebekah's things. It had taken a good half an hour to gather everything up even with her enhanced speed seeing as she had to brush dust off everything, but that's alright. Dahlia was surprised that Rebekah's things hadn't been burnt or something whilst she was daggered, making Dahlia grateful that Rebekah had anything at all.

It would save her and her wardrobe a lot of unwelcome intrusions, she thought with a shudder.

Climbing out of the car and looking at the boot for a moment, she shook her head and closed it, walking towards the mansion. It was barely gone 8AM – super early by her standards – yet here she was, handbag over her shoulder and a tray of coffee in her hand. Maybe that's why she was being grumpy.

'Rebekah, you have far too much crap for me to carry on my own. I've already done it once. Come and get your shit out of my car,' Dahlia drawled, walking in and dropping her keys on the sidetable with a bored expression on her face. She knew Rebekah would've heard her, unless she was still asleep. Straining her ears, she noticed that most of the house was, in fact, upstairs.

Sigh.

'Lazy bastards,' she sighed, looking at her phone. She got up early for nothing.

'I hope you're not referring to me, love?' a smooth voice asked, amused. Dahlia noticed with a slight hint of disturbance that it lit a small flame in the pit of her stomach.

She looked up and saw the youngest brother of the family looking at her, leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face. He had one hand in his pocket, and held a tumbler of blood in the other. He was looking at her up and down appreciatively – it appears that, despite the conventional fashions of the century he'd woken up in, this girl in front of him was quite modest with the way she dressed. Plus, she seemed extremely comfortable in the company of his brother and sister, he noted, and undeniably calm in front of himself. She wasn't afraid – at all. He was intrigued. Couple that with her undeniable beauty, Kol could grudgingly admit that this girl _fascinated_ him.

She looked up at him, and her eyes gleamed. They were bright, full of light and mirth. Not a hint of apprehension or fear to be found, and with the impatient stance she had placed herself in, she had an undeniable confidence that could allure any man, no matter how strong their willpower was.

'Apparently not,' she replied, chuckling slightly. Her voice was deep for a woman, but breathy – it sounded like it would be ready to crack at any moment, and yet, he found it strikingly sexy. It sounded like she'd just been bedded, Kol's subconscious whispered, and she looked it too. Her cheeks were a lovely shade of light pink and her hair was disheveled with dark, messy curls reaching her waist. She was also not afraid to stand out – illustrated by the piercings she had dotted on her nose that would surely catch the eye of most people in Mystic Falls. Are there any more? He thought cheekily, before shaking his head internally. He had never been one to focus his attention too much on one girl; he wasn't about to start now.

It had been silent for a few minutes, an undeniable tension in the air. Dahlia's stomach stirred – not quite from nerves or from being uncomfortable, but he interested her as well. Despite having made fun of Chester, Elijah and Stefan the night before for having poufy hair, she found herself fighting the desire to run her fingers through Kol's. She couldn't deny that confident men turned her on – Kol definitely was, even to the point of arrogance.

Somehow, she didn't seem to mind, even though the trait often irked her hugely.

Plus, he was tall – being short, she'd always liked tall men and he was the tallest of his brothers.

Obviously, this family had been blessed with _amazingly_ good looks.

She watched him with slightly hooded eyes as he took a sip out of the tumbler, licking the blood off his lips as he kept his eyes firmly trained on her face. The sexual energy between them was impalpable, and it was at that moment Rebekah began walking down the stairs, raising her eyebrow at the scene before her.

Dahlia broke eye contact, and held out a coffee to Rebekah as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She nodded gratefully. Looking around, she gave Dahlia a questioning look.

'Where's my stuff?' she asked.

Dahlia raised a brow and tilted her head at Rebekah. 'I'm your friend, not your bitch minion, baby girl,' she said, taking a sip of her coffee. 'Get it yourself. It's all in the car.'

Kol let out a laugh, this girl amusing him with her attitude towards Rebekah as his sister gave him a glare before heading out to the car. It wasn't often that people didn't bend to Rebekah's tantrums, expectations and stubbornness. Dahlia observed her. 'You have a lot of crap, y'know,' she commented.

'That shouldn't surprise you, Dahlia, I've been alive for a thousand years,' Rebekah retorted, pulling out the last bag and shutting the car door.

'Well that's absolutely no excuse, Rebekah,' Dahlia chuckled. 'I don't have _half_ as much crap as you do.' The other vampires looked at he questioningly.

'Are you just mocking me or does this regard one of the apparently monumental things you've not gotten around to tell me yet?' Rebekah asked, her eyes narrowed.

Dahlia shrugged nonchalantly, 'Bit of both.'

'And what secret, pray tell, would be so monumental?' Kol asked, his eyebrow raised. So this girl has secrets.

She looked at him, a small smile on her face. 'Not necessarily secrets, Kol, but I feel like I should perhaps refrain from turning the attention back to me when your family has just reunited so out of the blue. I think you should enjoy it whilst you can.'

By this point, Rebekah stood by Dahlia and looked at her up and down. She inadvertently avoided the tension between Kol and Dahlia as she commented, 'You're less of a midget today,' glancing down at her feet, which were covered by the legs of her trousers.

Pulling up her jumpsuit slightly, Dahlia revealed her huge heels that Rebekah admired with appreciation. Kol just thought they looked like complete deathtraps. 'How do you walk in those things?'

'I've had a lot of time to practice,' she replied, grinning. 'Right. So what's on the agenda today? You appear to have an entire army of beautifiers at your door,' she gestured at the group of people that were making their way towards the house.

'Beautifying,' Rebekah said.

'Right, so I'll be in there,' she pointed to the other room, making a beeline for the cupboard that housed all of Klaus' best wine. As she made her way over, she brushed past Kol lightly and their hands brushed together – she felt a small spark of warmth in her hand as she did so, but attempted to hide the almost knee-jerk reaction of surprise making it's way onto her face. Shrugging it off, she opened the cupboard, only to find that he'd replaced it with the less than vintage stuff he served to others. Rebekah and Kol watched with amusement as she closed the cupboard with a huff. She wandered around the room, looking through other cupboards and drawers with the intent of stealing his most expensive wine.

Suddenly, she walked over a hollow tile on the floor. Tapping her foot against it, she gave a triumphant grin and pulled up the floorboard to find the treasure trove of alcohol she enjoyed so much.

'Cheeky shit, trying to hide this from me,' she muttered. 'Just for that, I'll drink it all.'

'It's eight in the morning, Dahlia,' Rebekah chuckled.

'What's the point of being a vampire if you can't enjoy the benefits it brings? Such as the excuse of getting pissed to deter blood cravings,' she grunted, leaning down and pulling out a couple more bottles. 'You're welcome to join me,' she said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively as she stood up.

* * *

She'd been here for a while, now, and had gotten through (with a hint of glee, she might add) two bottles of Klaus' best wine.

Dahlia was _actually_ bored out of her mind. By this point, Elijah, Finn and Esther had come downstairs and Dahlia had poked fun at his hair for ten minutes before he swiftly had it cut off and, like Kol, was now having a suit fitted for the ball that would be occurring later on in the evening.

Esther had, much to Dahlia's delight, avoided the room that Dahlia was currently getting drunk in.

Much to the amusement of the siblings, Brogan and Chester had turned up at Mikaelson's, frantically looking for their sister.

Brogan's face was priceless when he saw his happily tipsy sister lounging on the sofa at nine AM; 'Who the fuck are you and what have you done to Dahlia?' he'd questioned, as Chester walked over and picked up the wine, inspecting the label. Dahlia was _never_ up and out of the house before 8AM – leading them to believe that something bad had actually happened. They knew the chances of that were slim to none – she could look after herself – but with the amount of supernatural activity occurring in Mystic Falls on a daily basis, they couldn't help but skip the step of rational thinking and they leaped straight to the step of total and complete panic.

'At least she has good taste,' he'd defended, giving her a small smile. Brogan had always been the more protective and impulsive one – Chester more or less let her do as she pleased. Dahlia had waved them off, before mentioning the ball and telling them to look nice.

'Don't you dare wear a beanie,' she'd warned Brogan, who pointed at the one he was wearing currently (eloquently embroidered with a tasteful 'SUCK MY DICK'), staring at his sister. As soon as her eyes narrowed in threat, Brogan had snapped up to attention and ran out of the house, but not before his head poked around the door and directed a 'You look stunning, love,' at a surprised Rebekah. Dahlia had thrown the spare lighter in her purse at where his hand was holding the doorjamb, embedding it in the wood as he sped away. Chester simply shook his head, gave his sister a kiss on the forehead, gave his regards to everyone in the room and made his way out of the house after plucking the lighter from the wood.

Lighting up a cigarette, she disregarded the looks that Finn and Elijah were casting her, scrunching their noses at the smell. Kol simply noticed the fact that she was currently sucking on something in a very blasé, _appealing_ manner and Rebekah carried on inspecting her nails seeing as she was completely used to Dahlia's smoking habit.

'Rebekah,' Kol said, a satisfied smirk on his face, 'Tell me how handsome I am.'

'Oh, Kol, you know I can't be compelled.'

Dahlia let out a small snort as Finn smiled in amusement, and Kol turned to her. 'How about you, love? Like what you see?' he wagged his eyebrows.

'Absolutely ravishing,' she deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. She effortlessly made it seem like she was being completely sarcastic. She wasn't about to admit that she actually thought he was looking extremely _yummy_ at this moment in time.

He simply shot her a cheeky grin, as Klaus came storming through the door. Dahlia turned her attention to him.

'You went after Elena?' he snapped, heading towards Rebekah. Dahlia's face shifted to surprise, as she felt the bubble of laughter building up in her stomach. 'What's wrong with you?!'

'You omitted this juicy piece of information from me, Rebekah,' Dahlia commented, amused.

'Here we go,' Rebekah smiled, looking up defiantly at her brother.

'Do you want another dagger in your heart?' he growled.

Dahlia narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but Kol beat her to it.

'Again with the dagger threats? Don't you have any other tricks?' his eyes narrowed.

'Oh, go back to staring at yourself,' Klaus snapped, swiveling around to meet his brother's eyes.

'And who are you, my father?' Kol smiled patronisingly.

'No, Kol,' he growled, 'but you are in _my_ house.'

'Then perhaps we should step outside,' Kol stood up as he got in Klaus' face. It was silent for a few tense moments.

Esther broke it.

'Enough,' she said. 'Niklaus. Come.'

Kol smirked at his brother triumphantly as Esther called him into the other room. Dahlia, with her ever-present curiosity, decided to listen in.

'Rebekah wasn't even out of her box a day before she tried to ruin my life. What happened to peace, acceptance, family?'

Dahlia noticed out of the corner of her eye that Rebekah was quite affected by Nik's words. It was endlessly upsetting for her to constantly be berated by her brothers, and Dahlia felt sad for her – thinking this, she leaned over and lay her head on Rebekah's shoulder, as Rebekah put her head on top of Dahlia's.

Dahlia's face was impassive as she carried on listening, her eyes unfocused. Kol watched her, noticing the protectiveness she held for his sister.

'You put daggers in their hearts,' Esther replied disbelievingly. 'you want them to go down on their knees and kiss your feet for reuniting them?'

He wants everyone to go down on their knees to him, Dahlia thought.

'So it's a crime to want our family to be as we were?' Obviously he didn't take Dahlia's advice. She sighed.

'You need to give it time, Niklaus. I've had a thousand years on the other side to be angry and heal. I'm here to make sure this family does the same,' Esther replied impassively.

Dahlia could practically _smell_ the bullshit coming out of Esther's mouth, but no one else seemed to notice. Elijah, however, had kept his face trained on Dahlia and he didn't miss the miniscule amount her eyes narrowed as she listened to his mother's voice.

'I just don't understand,' Klaus whispered. 'I killed you, and still you forgive me.'

'It's been my dream, for a thousand years, that my family could be as one,' she replied. Bull_shit_. 'Forgiveness is not a chore, it is a gift. Now, who are you bringing to the ball this evening?'

Dahlia sat up as she heard that.

'Don't be ridiculous,' he sighed, 'You're lucky I'm even going.'

'Well, I wish you would reconsider. It's going to be a magical evening.'

'Fabulous,' Dahlia said, knowing that they could hear her. 'You should invite Caroline.'

Heads turned to her with raised eyebrows, as she shrugged. Klaus poked his head back around the door, his eyes narrowed. 'What?'

'Invite Caroline,' she repeated, slowly. 'Either you can, or I will. She's good for you,' she said, standing up, not once buckling under the pressure of his heavy stare.

'Where're you going?' Rebekah questioned.

'I'm going to the Grill,' she replied casually. 'Brogan's just texted me and offered to join me on my _awful_ habit of daytime drinking.' Her eyes stared off into the distance, a small smile on her face. 'Nothing better than sibling bonding.'

'I'll come with you,' Rebekah stood up as well. 'I'm going to invite Matt to the ball tonight.'

Dahlia turned to her, eyebrow raised. 'What?' Rebekah sounded defensive.

'Oh nothing,' Dahlia dismissed, 'Brogan's going to be disappointed,' she said nonchalantly, walking back to the loose floorboard where the wine was hidden. She had her bag slung over her shoulder, and she was grateful she'd chosen a bigger one today. Klaus' eyes widened as she pulled it out and grabbed three bottles of the vintage red hidden, sticking them in her bag as she shot Klaus a smug smile.

'Please, Dahlia,' Rebekah scoffed.

'What?' Dahlia defended her brother, putting the floorboard back and standing up again. 'At least you could fuck him without the fear of breaking him,' she said, turning around towards the door. 'He's pretty wild. I bet he'd give you and your strength a run for your money.'

Rebekah had her jaw open, scandalised. Kol, Klaus and Elijah had amused grins on their faces as Finn and Esther looked appalled.

Before she walked out, she turned to Rebekah, the question in her eyes. 'Coming?' she asked her. Dahlia was just about to put her foot over the threshold, when Kol flashed up to her, kissing her hand.

'Save me a dance, darling,' he breathed, looking up at her.

Her stomach exploded into butterflies, and she took a deep, quiet breath to sooth it. 'Perhaps if you're lucky,' she replied indifferently, a cheeky gleam in her eyes. He grinned up at her, letting her hand go.

Rebekah smiled softly at the exchange, before following her friend out the door.

* * *

She heard them before she saw them. Caroline and Elena were in the Grill, talking about the dance.

'It's all so weird. The Originals are throwing a ball. Like an actual ball,' Elena's voice was laced with disbelief.

'It's some twisted Cinderella fetish is what it is,' Caroline retorted, obviously displeased. 'And why does the Evil Witch want an audience with you?'

Dahlia's eyebrows shot up when she heard this. Interesting.

'I have no idea,' Elena replied. 'There's only one way to find out.'

'I thought you told Damon and Stefan you weren't going?'

'I did,' she replied, 'Which is all the more reason why I need a drama free bodyguard.' Or you could just, y'know, grow some balls and look after _yourself_ like most people do nowadays.

'Well, I think a Salvatore would look a lot better in a tux,' Caroline chuckled, 'And by that I mean Stefan.'

'Ugh,' Elena groaned, 'I can't deal with either of the Salvatore's right now. Whatever feeling, he's channeling it all against Klaus. And Damon,' Elena paused, 'It's just not a good idea.'

'Why, because you two made out?' Caroline said, slightly waspishly. Rebekah and Dahlia looked at each other. This was news. 'Bonnie spilled the beans.'

Elena groaned again before replying. 'I was gonna tell you. Just after everything that happened with your dad-'

Caroline cut her off. 'Elena, when you and Matt kissed for the first time freshman year, you called me the second it happened. And now I don't hear about this til now, and from somebody else?' She was obviously offended.

'I'm sorry,' Elena said quietly. 'It's just I- I don't even know how I feel about it yet. All I do know is that it just used to be so much easier.'

By this point, Dahlia and Rebekah had walked in, and Rebekah approached the table.

'Careful, Caroline,' Rebekah sniped, 'It's all well and good until she stabs you in the back.'

'What are _you _doing here? I know your mom's rules,' Elena replied, a smug smirk on her face, 'No hurting the locals.'

Dahlia's face creased in amusement. 'Awfully confident for someone who needs a _bodyguard_ at a dance, sweetie.'

Rebekah simply rolled her eyes as Elena glared at Dahlia. 'Get _over_ yourself, Elena. It's not all about you.'

Rebekah turned away and walked towards Matt, whilst Dahlia stood at the table watching. She noticed Brogan, who was sat at the bar, watching as well – and he looked none too pleased. She smiled, finding it sweet that he'd taken a fancy to Rebekah. He hadn't liked a girl in a long time.

'What are you smiling at?' Elena asked, her tone ever so slightly rude. Caroline looked a bit surprised at her friend's coldness, whilst Dahlia remained unaffected.

'Nothing that concerns you, Elena.'

Turning back to Rebekah and Matt, Caroline gasped. 'Oh my God. She's inviting him to the ball,' her head snapped to Elena and Dahlia, 'Why is she inviting him?'

Elena pursed her lips. 'Probably to get this reaction from us.'

'Or she could genuinely like him,' Dahlia shrugged dully.

Caroline scoffed. 'What time is this stupid dance?' She crossed her arms, leaning back unhappily.

'I take it Nik invited you then,' Dahlia said, an amused twinkle in her eye. Caroline looked up in surprise. 'It's at seven, by the way.' With that, she gave a small wave, and headed over to Brogan who looked about to break the glass in his hand.

She vaguely registered Elena's angered whisper of 'When did she get so friendly with him to call him _Nik_!?' as she left them to it, and she chuckled softly.

She put her hand over Brogan's and removed the trembling glass from his tight grip, giving him a smoothing smile. He glared unhappily at Rebekah and Matt, before turning to Dahlia.

'Why's she so interested in _that_ guy?' he sneered quietly.

Wow, Dahlia hadn't seen him this worked up in a while. He must really like her. She shrugged. 'Maybe you can steal a dance or two from her and sweep her off her feet,' she giggled slightly, before ordering a drink.

* * *

Getting ready had been a bit of a kerfuffle. It appeared that Brogan had taken Dahlia's advice of sweeping Rebekah off her feet at the dance a _tad_ seriously, and had spent an age getting ready.

By the time they had walked into the Ball, the triplets had noticed that the family had begun to gather on the stairs, looking down at their guests. Kol, who had been looking around the room for Dahlia, had been under the impression that she wasn't coming after all and felt the foreign feeling of slight disappointment.

He didn't like it. It made him uncomfortable.

It wasn't until they had gathered on the stairs, that he noticed her. She walked through the double doors, one brother on each arm, and she looked _ravishing_.

Her lips were a dark purple, and she wore a simple yet elegant black dressed paired with gold jewellery and purple heels. She looked around the room, and caught his eye – she didn't miss that he was looking at her with an appreciative smile on his face.

He had to admit that he was slightly disappointed she was so covered up, but then she turned slightly and his breath caught in his throat for just a moment.

Going up the side of her dress was sheer lace. It reached to the top of her hip – and his inner pervert realised that there was no _way_ she could be wearing underwear under that dress. His breathing had gotten slightly heavier.

It was like she was dressing this way on _purpose_, dammit.

He shook his head, and focused on Elijah, who had just spoken.

'Uh, if everyone could gather please,' Elijah said, looking at the guests. Dahlia barely registered his presence – she was solely focused on Kol. Once again, she fought the urge to run her fingers through his hair. She admired the way he stood – it was so confident, so suave, the way he held his glass and the flippant way he regarded everyone. Fuck. She shook her head, and put her feelings down to the fact that she hadn't had sex in a while. That must be it. No other male had ever driven such primal instincts from her until now. God.

'Welcome,' Elijah smiled, 'Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance.' Dahlia's face deadpanned at the lie. Your mother's been dead for a thousand years, love, she thought.

She glanced at her brothers, whom she was still holding onto. Chester stood at her left, his head high and proud, looking at the family on the stairs as a group. Brogan, on the other hand, was fully trained on Rebekah. His eyes gleamed, a small smile on his face.

And, when Dahlia looked, she saw that Rebekah was looking at Brogan with slight surprise on her face. He cleaned up well, Dahlia knew that – apparently Rebekah thought that now, as well. She smiled softly, focusing back on Elijah.

'Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz,' he continued, 'so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please, join us in the ballroom.' He gave a final smile at the crowd, before descending the stairs with the rest of his family. Dahlia noticed with interest that Esther had walked up the stairs, instead. She looked to Chester, who nodded at her, affirming that he also noticed. Brogan was oblivious to all of this, making a beeline for Rebekah. She watched as they exchanged words, and he kissed her hand.

'Care to dance, darling?' a smooth voice spoke from behind her, and Dahlia turned to see Kol grinning at her. He took her hand gently and pressed his lips to the back of it – it took all of Dahlia's willpower not to react to the torrent of warmth that spread through her veins the moment his lips touched her skin.

'Maybe just this once,' she smiled, and she allowed him to lead her to the ballroom. To her sadness, she saw that Rebekah was dancing with Matt – she supposed that he was her date, after all, so it made sense. Brogan was pouting, dancing with a pretty brunette that Dahlia had never seen. Chester had opted to stay out of it all together, choosing to watch instead.

Chester was the world's most terrible dancer, Dahlia remembered, chuckling slightly. She supposed that everyone had to have one fatal flaw – that was Chester's.

She barely thought about what she was doing whilst she danced. Being alive for so long had it's perks – she'd literally had millennia worth of practice, so she spent the time subtly admiring Kol and quietly enjoying the feeling of his hand holding hers.

'I was beginning to think that you wouldn't make an appearance,' he remarked softly, as he lead and twirled her slightly.

'Well, that's not entirely my fault,' she laughed softly, 'Brogan wanted to look good for your sister.'

'And you weren't getting dressed up for me?' he asked breathily, taking her in his arms. Like her, he was attempting to ignore the warmth that spread through his body the closer they were together.

Dahlia inhaled sharply, apparently feeling the same way as he did. It's just sexual tension, she thought.

'And what makes you think I'd do that, Mr. Mikaelson?' she breathed, looking into his dark eyes.

'For what it's worth,' he replied, a small grin on his face, 'You look absolutely stunning,' he said, before spinning her into the arms of his brother.

'You clean up well,' Klaus said, looking at the short girl he was holding. She gave him a bright smile.

'You don't look too bad yourself, Niklaus,' she laughed, and he gave her a smile in return.

'I see you invited Caroline,' she commented softly, 'You picked out a nice dress for her.'

'Yes, well, she seems to enjoy turning down my affections,' he said darkly.

Dahlia laughed quietly at him. 'Well, can you blame her? Her and Tyler broke up because of his sire bond, to _you_, I might add,' she commented. 'Generally it's a rule that you don't fall for the one who does shitty things to you. You might have to deal with a few sniping comments for a while.' Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed with glee that Brogan was dancing with Rebekah. She grinned.

'So why tell me to invite her?' he asked, frustrated.

Dahlia turned back to Klaus and looked up at him. 'Because she would be good for you, Nik,' she paused for a moment. 'You're a vampire, and so's she. You have an eternity to fight for her, to win her affections if you so desired. The fact that she came tonight, wearing things that _you_ gave her, means something. Don't you think?'

Klaus stood quietly, contemplating her words as the dance finished. She gave his hand a tight squeeze, before heading towards Chester. She didn't notice Kol watching her as she walked away, not once tearing his eyes off of her.

* * *

'Dahlia.'

She turned, and saw the oldest Mikaelson looking down at her, his gaze intense.

'Finn,' she said softly, tilting her glass towards him.

'My mother wishes an audience with you and your brothers,' he said, his eyes never once leaving hers.

Raising an eyebrow, she took a sip of her drink. 'How forward.'

'Will you join me?'

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she looked up at Chester, who nodded minutely. Turning back to Finn, she nodded. 'Just excuse me. One moment.'

She left him with her brother and walked over to Brogan, who was speaking to Kol, Rebekah and Elijah. Taking his hand gently, he looked down at her.

'The witchy Original wishes to speak to us,' she said softly, looking him in the eye, her distaste barely concealed.

'Mother?' Elijah enquired, curious. What could his Mother possibly want with the Lennox triplets?

He looked at Brogan's expression. It had hardened ever so slightly as the muscles in his jaw jumped. 'Well, I suppose it would be rude to keep her waiting,' he said, his tone sharp. She nodded, and looked at the group with a small apologetic smile.

'If you'll excuse us,' he said, holding onto Dahlia's hand tightly, and heading for the stairs as Finn and Chester followed.

'And what exactly could Mother want with the Lennox family, I wonder?' he pondered aloud.

Kol's head snapped up in alarm, his eyes narrowed. '_Lennox_?' he repeated.

Elijah and Rebekah turned their heads towards him, questioningly.

* * *

'I find it curious how you wished to speak with us, Esther,' Chester commented, as he and his siblings walked into the room. Although Dahlia and Brogan were by no means unintelligent in _any_ way, Chester was always the most intellectually capable of them all and the most astute.

'Ah, the Lennox triplets,' she smiled as she gestured towards the sofa, 'Please, sit.'

'Mm, I'm fairly happy here, but thank you,' Dahlia said, casting her eyes around the room. Taking a sip of her drink, she noticed a dagger and clear quite liquid sat on a table at the parallel to her. Her eyes narrowed minutely.

Finn's face had turned hostile the moment that Dahlia disrespected his mother, and had taken a threatening step forward. Brogan, ever the protective one, stood in front of him with a mocking smirk on his face. Brogan was tall – and he stared down at Finn threateningly, _daring_ for him to approach his sister.

Esther simply nodded, looking at them carefully. Dahlia had leaned against a table, taking sips of her champagne every now and again. Chester was leaning against the wall, arms folded and eyes impassive whilst Brogan was stood in front of Finn, glaring daggers at him.

'That will be all, Finn, thank you,' she dismissed him, and he cast an unwilling glance at her before slowly walking out and closing the door.

'I must say, your appearance in Mystic Falls intrigued me,' she paused, 'You managed to stop my spell from killing Elena in that car.'

Dahlia and Brogan cast glances at each other.

'So that was you?' she asked smoothly, leaning back on the table and using her hand as leverage.

'Indeed.'

'That's interesting,' she replied, her voice indifferent. She looked like she wasn't even paying attention.

Esther narrowed her eyes. 'Why is it that the witches appear to know nothing of you? And what they do know appears to be shrouded in myth and legend.'

'Been doing your research then, love,' Brogan smiled condescendingly, his hands in his pockets.

'Perhaps it's because it's none of their business who, or what, we are,' Dahlia replied, casting a hard look at Esther.

'The story of the Lennox line was simply an old wives tale, or so I believed,' Esther said, 'Before I came across the three of you. And I can feel just how different all of you are.'

'And yet, you claim to know no truths.' Chester straightened up. 'So what do you plan to do?'

Esther glared. She could feel that they were abominations. She was sent back to fix the vampire problem in the world – what was the point, if she left these three?

'You could try and kill us, if you would like,' Dahlia smirked, looking at her nails. Esther turned to look at her. 'Unfortunately for you, though, there's only one way to kill us. And no one apart from me and my brothers know how.'

'How do the spirits not know of you?' Esther demanded again, her voice frustrated.

Dahlia stood up, turning to face Esther completely. Her eyes were dark, and very dangerous.

'The spirits have a superiority complex, and have a nasty habit of sticking their noses in where they _don't belong_,' Dahlia hissed, gesturing her hand at Esther, 'and _you,_ Miss Original Witch, are a prime example. We've been around much longer than the Other Side, I can assure you. I advise you to tread carefully, Esther Mikaelson.' She straightened, walking towards the door.

Her brothers shortly followed, as Esther watched them with wide eyes. Chester turned back.

'I fear that, if you take us on, you might just be signing your own death sentence,' he said coldly. 'We've had over two thousand years to hone our craft. Perhaps you should take that into consideration.'

Dahlia opened the door, and narrowed her eyes at the girl waiting outside with Finn. Brushing past her softly, noticing the surprised look on her face, Dahlia opened her mouth to speak.

'Do not do anything you will regret, Elena,' she whispered frostily, as she walked towards the stairs. She was fuming.

That woman fucking pissed her off.

She noticed Kol and Rebekah speaking as she descended the stairs, both with dangerous grins on their faces. Plotting something, most likely.

Deciding against approaching them, she headed straight to the drinks table where she downed two glasses of champagne in quick succession. Brogan squeezed her shoulder lightly, and it was only when she was reaching for the third glass, did she feel Kol's piercing gaze on her back.

* * *

'Miss Lennox,' Elijah said, walking towards Dahlia. 'How was your conversation with my mother?'

She scoffed, and he raised his eyebrows. 'I feel like if I say anything, I might offend you. So I'm going to answer you with a firm and resounding _fine_,' she answered heatedly.

'I take it she has displeased you,' he stated, to which she let out a loud laugh, shaking her head.

'Most witches do, Elijah. Don't take it personal.'

'If I may ask,' he paused, hesitant, 'What was it that my mother wanted to speak to you about?'

Dahlia stared at him. 'She was asking about my brothers and I, about who we are, where we come from,' it was quiet for a few seconds as she let the information sink in. 'Perhaps my family should just schedule a dinner with yours so I can explain everything all at once,' she pondered, 'Rebekah is dying to know.'

'Yes, that may be wise. Kol appeared to recognise your name when I spoke it,' Elijah replied, looking at her carefully.

'What, my last one?' she questioned. 'Interesting.'

At this point, Chester appeared by his sister's side, nodding to Elijah. They both looked up at the Original, looking ever so slightly tired, he noticed.

'I'm gonna assume that you know Elena is up there with her,' Dahlia said softly. Elijah nodded in confirmation.

'You should know that your mother's burning sage,' Chester said casually, and Elijah's head snapped up. He knew what that was for. 'Your mother also had a vial of clear liquid, a goblet, candles and a dagger up there.'

'Plus a doppelganger,' Dahlia finished.

'You should be wary of your mother, Elijah. I don't think her intentions are quite as pure as you wish them to be,' the Lennox brother said, gaze heavy on Elijah. Giving his sister a small squeeze on the shoulder, he lead her to Brogan, who was watching the exchange quietly.

* * *

'He's speaking to Elena, look,' Brogan said, pointing discretely at Elijah. His siblings looked.

'Well, she's obviously lying to him about something,' Dahlia commented. 'She looks like she wants to peg it far, far away right now.'

Chester simply nodded in agreement as the sound of clinking glass caught his attention. Esther was standing at the staircase, looking at her guests with a smile.

'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming around with champagne,' she gestured to the glasses of pink champagne being handed out. 'I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening,' she paused, looking around the room and her eyes focused on the triplets for a moment before she continued. 'Cheers!'

A loud chorus of 'Cheers' followed, as everyone raised their glasses. Dahlia looked at the champagne in her hand, and felt the faint buzz of magic coursing through her body. She glared at it lightly. Guessing by how the hands of her brothers had tightened considerably on her shoulders, she guessed that they noticed it as well.

They lifted the glasses to their mouths, appearing to take a sip to appease those judging them for being rude and not joining in the toast.

No one noticed that they kept their lips firmly clamped shut as they 'drank' the champagne.

* * *

Sometimes Dahlia wished that she could feel the cold just so she could distract herself from the millions of thoughts swirling around her head. She thought maybe getting some air would help, but it wasn't working as well as she thought it would. She'd nicked a cigarette from Brogan before she came out – much to her bemusement, it was about to burn out. Dammit.

Her ears perked up when she heard Kol's distinctive, velvety voice from above her head. The balcony?

'Good evening,' he said. 'You're Rebekah's friend. We haven't met.'

'Matt Donovan.' Uh oh. Dahlia's eyes widened.

'Kol Mikaelson,' he replied, his voice having a dangerous edge. She very quickly heard the crack of bone and the cry of pain from Matt and was about to fly up, when she heard Damon.

'Woah, easy on the hand! Guy's a quarterback.'

Dahlia barely had time to step aside as Damon flung Kol over the balcony, following quickly after.

'Damon!' she yelled.

He was too busy punching Kol to notice. Her eyes hardened, and she grabbed the back of his suit, yanking him off of Kol in one swift move. She moved her foot quickly over Kol's chest to stop him from moving, as Damon realised who was holding him and calmed down quickly. Letting him go with a deadly glare, she took in his appearance. He was obviously disheveled, but something was wrong. Something had happened, and her eyes softened.

'What happened?' she asked softly, tilting her had slightly. Kol was struggling against the iron hold of her foot, and was shocked to notice he couldn't push her off. Dammit!

'Damon!' Stefan came running out, followed by the Original family. Elena ran out as well. 'Are you crazy?' he snapped.

Dahlia looked at him with a glare.

'Maybe a little,' Damon breathed, glancing at Kol before turning a hard stare onto Elena. 'Far be it for me to cause a problem.'

With that, he stalked away, and Dahlia looked on in sadness as she removed her foot from Kol's chest. He didn't move.

She turned to Stefan with a raised eyebrow. 'Aren't you going to follow him?'

He answered her with a firm and resolute 'No' as he glanced back at Elena. She snarled at him.

'He's your _brother_, and you're putting a girl in front of him?'

He just peered at her. 'He's not my responsibility.'

Without warning, he fell to the floor, neck snapped, revealing a stony faced Chester putting his hands back in his trouser pockets. Brogan appeared shortly after, laughing at Stefan on the floor.

'What a wanker,' he commented lightly, before waving at his sister to go after Damon. She simply jumped into the air and soared into the sky, much to the amazement of those present. Whilst some _knew_ of her ability to fly, none of them bar her brothers and Elijah had actually witnessed it. Brogan turned to them all, a cheerful grin on his face.

'So, enjoying the party?'

Kol watched her leave, unable to quell the jealousy bubbling in his stomach at watching her go after his attacker.

* * *

She found him at the Grill, in a far booth hiding in the shadows. She sat across from him, not saying a word. She simply stared at him as he went through half of the whiskey bottle with ease.

'I figured you'd be with your new Original friends,' he sniped, staring at the floor a few feet away.

'You're my friend too, Damon,' she said softly, smiling at him.

'Aren't you annoyed that I attacked Kol? I saw you dancing with him,' he replied, monotone.

'He deserved it,' she replied simply. Taking a closer look at him, she felt pity boil up in her. 'She hurt you tonight. Elena.'

Damon scoffed.

'Don't lie to me, Damon.'

'She may have done,' he replied quietly.

Letting out a small sigh, she took his hand. 'I'm sorry, Day,' she said softly, and he shot her an appreciative smile.

'I probably shouldn't get involved, seeing as my opinion on Elena isn't very positive as it is,' she said, looking at him carefully, 'So I'm not. But if you ever want to get piss drunk, or get high as fuck and watch trippy movies and get your mind off things, you know where I live.'

He let out a wry laugh. Trust Dahlia to offer such things to him. Surprisingly, it actually sounded quite appealing right now.

'I'll give you a call,' he said, the ghost of a smile on his face.

She smiled back, and stood up before leaning down to give him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, giving him a small wave as she walked away.

* * *

The mansion was practically deserted at this point. Obviously that last event at the party had ruined the atmosphere – she wasn't gone that long.

Dahlia lifted up her dress and headed up the stairs, looking for the study. She realised that she'd never managed to talk to Nik after the dance, and she wanted to know what had happened between him and Caroline. He was exactly where she thought he would be.

'How'd it go?' she asked softly, taking a seat next to him. She looked down at the drawing – he was sketching Caroline, looking at a horse.

'Interesting,' he answered shortly, before signing the picture.

_'Thank you for your honesty. – Klaus' _

Dahlia smiled softly. 'Unreceptive?'

Klaus stayed quiet.

'You can't buy love, Nik,' she said, and he snapped his head up. She shrugged.

'I saw the dress you gave her, sweetheart. Presents are always nice, but like I said yesterday, you have to understand people. Once you understand how difficult it is for Caroline to be with you, regardless of whether she has feelings for you or not, she'll be more receptive.'

'How do you know?' he answered, eyes narrowing.

'I know girls,' she laughed. 'Show her a compassionate side. Plant the seed that you're not the evil hybrid that came to tear her idyllic town apart. Be nice to her. Make her feel special. Then give her the choice of coming for you. She will come to you.'

'If you say so,' Klaus smiled wryly, looking down at his sketch. Dahlia laughed.

'Have I been wrong since you've met me Niky?' It was a rhetorical question, but she stood to leave. He looked at her disapprovingly.

'Don't call me that.'

'I'll call you what I want,' she giggled, sticking her tongue out at him. She ruffled his hair and made her way out the door.

'You're incredibly irritating,' he sniped, hiding the ghost of a smile on his lips.

She didn't bother answering. She just snorted instead.

* * *

She was nearly out of the door when she felt a hot stare on her back.

Kol's.

Turning around, she watched as Kol descended the stairs, his eyes calculating. He said nothing until he was in front of her.

'Have fun consoling my attacker?' he scoffed.

Dahlia raised her eyebrows in surprise. He was annoyed that she went after Damon? Why?

'You kind of deserved it, sweetie,' she answered softly, shrugging.

He stared at her for a hard moment.

'You know, you never told me your last name,' he said, a small warning in his voice.

'I'm Dahlia Lennox, though judging by your attitude, you knew that.'

She still wasn't scared. _Why_ was she so confident? Why was she fearless? Why didn't she fear _him_, the impulsive, the dangerous brother with the infamously short temper? He didn't think of breaking the silence, lost in his thoughts.

Gently, she leaned up and fixed his bowtie, which was slightly askew from the scuffle he had outside. He looked at her in surprise, watching her face as her hands moved slowly. She moved on to fixing his jacket and buttons, before placing her hands on his chest and straining her head slightly to look up at his tall stature.

'I take it my name means something to you,' she said delicately. She looked so innocent, so alluring, he thought.

He swallowed sharply. 'I ran with witches for a few centuries,' he commented airily, dark brown eyes never leaving the shocking emerald green. She smiled gently up at him.

'Well, that's interesting. I take it your siblings don't take note of witch legends as you do?'

His breathing was heavier than normal. The warmth of her hand was seeping through his shirt, and he could feel her small, soft hands on his chest. It was very distracting.

'Apparently not,' he forced out, trying to sound as smooth as possible.

She let out a small 'hm'. At this point, Dahlia felt large, warm hands touching her, and let out a small squeak of surprise as she realised that Kol was holding on to her hips as he looked deep into her eyes. With a sense of satisfaction and a loud, internal groan, he realised that _there really was no panty line there_. At _all_.

'Is this your monumental secret?' he pushed, gaze heavy.

She blinked, but didn't turn away. 'Depends what the right answer is.'

'Are you a threat?' he asked, tone mild.

'No,' he could see the honesty shining in her eyes. Not once did her voice tremble.

'Then the right answer would be the truth.'

'Well, depending on what you've heard, it may have something to do with my _monumental secret_,' she mocked lightly. 'I think I'd rather reveal everything with your siblings there, though, if you don't mind,'

'And why's that?' he breathed.

'It would save having to explain everything again and again, and maybe you could help me,' she smiled.

Realising she still had her hands on his chest, she slowly removed them, nails scraping at the fabric gently. He inhalted sharply at the sensation of her scratching down his chest, and looked down at her with hooded eyes.

Giving him one last smile, she turned away and walked out of the door without another word, taking a leap into the air with one push of her foot on the doorstep.

Kol stared after her, and contemplated on what he had just learned, before his thoughts turned to just how _captivating_ that girl was.

Shaking his head, he sped up the stairs and tore off his tux, jumping straight into the bathroom for a bloody cold shower.

* * *

**AN:**

Writing Kol and Dahlia is so fun, oh my god x.x

Right, updates may not happen til the weekend - each chapter takes at _least_ four hours to write (this one took about six and a half and is 15 pages long) and I have an exam on Friday. Sorry about that.

Thank you for your lovely reviews, guys. n.n

**Review/Follow/Favourite/PM!**

Outfits (on Polyvore):

Dahlia's day outfit:  
/dahlias_day_outfit_chapter_10/set?id=124063423

Dahlia's outfit to the ball:  
/dahlias_ball_outfit_chapter_10/set?id=124059736


	11. Chapter 11

**Music:**

**Hollow Crown by The Architects – Sean Townsend Piano Cover**

**Another You - Of Mice & Men**

**To Die For – Lion King Soundtrack**

**Soundscape to Ardor – Shiro Sagisu**

* * *

Dahlia pulled up to the Boarding House the night after the ball, with every intention of checking on Damon. He was a big boy, he could handle himself, but he never called and she wanted to check and make sure he was okay.

And that he hadn't murdered a group of sorority girls in his misery.

Stepping out the door, apparently she didn't have to worry. Elena was stood at the door when a shirtless Damon opened it, revealing a smug Rebekah walking out of the door. Dahlia raised a dark eyebrow.

'Well it's a good thing I stopped by then isn't it?' Dahlia said flippantly, laughing at Damon's shock of seeing Elena and Elena's look of betrayal. She turned to Damon. 'I came to check up on you,' she chuckled lightly as Damon turned to look at her, his raised-eyebrow-frown-face still glued onto his features. 'But it looks like you're alright. So give me a call if you want to take me up on that offer, it still stands!'

She gave him a small wink as Rebekah got into the front seat of her car, and Elena looked at Dahlia with horror.

'Well, _that_ isn't what it sounds like,' Damon directed to Elena, a smirk on his face, but he nodded at Dahlia nonetheless.

She let out a laugh, before shutting the door and pulling out of the drive.

* * *

'You know, if you wanted to fuck someone, I'm sure my brother would've happily taken you up on that,' Dahlia said casually, walking into the Mikaelson home. She ducked, avoiding a swift slap from Rebekah as she dropped her keys on the side table, and let out a loud laugh before she walked into the living room.

'He's not that bad,' she continued, ignoring Rebekah's heated glare on her back. 'Judging from noises the girls that he brings home make.'

'Oh, shut up, Dahlia.' Rebekah snapped, following her into the room where Kol and Klaus sat.

* * *

Walking around the study, Elijah was contemplating his mother's intentions. She had taken an interest with the Lennox family for reasons he did not know, and she was apparently performing magic in the presence of the doppelganger. Throughout this thousand years alive, he'd come to realise just how powerful a doppelganger's blood can be. Dahlia and her brothers had also appeared suspicious of his mother when they spoke the night previous – and he couldn't help but feel the same way. And he hated himself for it.

Looking at the table, he found burnt sage in a glass goblet and he raised it, gazing at it in question.

He contemplated on what it could mean, when his eyes widened slightly.

'A privacy spell,' he whispered.

* * *

Well, well well,' Kol mocked, 'There's our girl.'

Rebekah was walking down the stairs, when he got up and stood in front of her, blocking her way through when she tried to budge past. She glared at him.

'Get out of my way, Kol,' she snapped. Dahlia had her arms folded, her eyes gleaming in amusement and her face twisted up in a smirk as she leaned against the wall by the door.

'Out all night!' he continued, 'What a scandal. I trust you did better than that commoner?' he tilted his head, a teasing leer on his face. 'Matt, was it?'

'If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth.'

Dahlia looked at Klaus, who looked highly entertained with the conversation in front of her. Rebekah noticed.

'Don't start, Nik,' she snapped, pushing Kol out of the way.

'I didn't say anything,' he answered defensively, his smile only widening.

Dahlia stood straight and made her way over to the sofa opposite Nik, setting herself down in a none-too-graceful manner and leaning back with her knees parted. Rebekah raised her eyebrow at Dahlia's manly posture, but she simply shrugged in response.

Who cares, it's comfortable.

'I'm bored,' Kol drawled, flopping himself down on the sofa next to Dahlia. He leaned over and placed his head on her chest, and her eyes widened in surprise. What was he doing?

He didn't even look at her as he rested his arm over her legs. 'Our sister is a strumpet, but at least she's having fun.' Turning to Klaus, he continued. 'I need entertainment.'

He dismissed his brother. 'What are you waiting for? Go on. Have at it.'

'It's not fun to go alone,' Kol whined. 'Join me, Nik!' His voice turned hard. 'It's the least you can do, after sticking a dagger in my heart.'

Dahlia reached up and started to twirl a few strands of Kol's hair between her fingers, admiring the softness even though it was full of product. She was comfortable here, she thought. She quite enjoyed having Kol so close to her.

Klaus stayed quiet, before giving in. 'Okay, why not?' he sighed, standing up and walking past his sister who moved out of his way just slightly. 'I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Rebekah's date.'

Kol shot him a smug smile, before he turned to Dahlia and kissed the back of his hand. Smiled gently at him, but said nothing.

'Yes, please go, this house has enough men rolling around in it,' Rebekah drawled, glaring slightly at her brothers. Kol turned around and pointed at her, laughing slightly. 'Just like you, Bekah,' he retorted, swiftly jumping out the door when Rebekah threw her shoe at him.

'Good riddance, both of you!'

She turned to Dahlia, who was biting her finger and trying not to laugh. 'Not you as well,' she groaned.

At that moment, Elijah entered the room. Dahlia noticed that he was holding the burnt sage from the night before, and straightened up ever so slightly as her eyes narrowed.

'Rebekah.'

'Not you too, Elijah,' she sighed.

'I'm worried about mother,' he continued. 'Dahlia informed me that she was performing spells last night. Have you noticed her strange behaviour?'

Rebekah cast a curious glance at Dahlia, before answering him. 'She's been dead for a thousand years. What's strange for her?'

'Burnt sage,' he replied, cold. He handed the sage to Rebekah, who took it. 'She was doing a privacy spell.'

'You know she fancies such things,' she replied dismissively. 'Why don't you ask Finn? He's been doting on her.'

'I don't trust Finn. He hates what we are, he always has.'

'That's not true,' she scoffed. 'And as for mother, she returned for one reason. To make our family whole. She loves us. What trouble are you looking to find?' She paused and looked at Dahlia, eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'And what trouble are you looking to make?'

Dahlia's gaze hardened, slightly annoyed that Rebekah had presumed such things. Standing up, she pulled her shoulders back defiantly and looked at her friend as Elijah watched the interaction curiously.

'I'm not looking to make trouble, Rebekah. You should know I don't put myself down to that level,' she said coldly. 'I simply feel that it's suspicious for a _servant of nature_ with the _duty of destroying perceived abominations_ is willing to come back and pretend nothing bad has happened after suffering a thousand years of torment and punishment from her dead sisters.'

Rebekah and Elijah stayed quiet, as they contemplated her words. Dahlia rolled her eyes and walked to the door, with every intention of meeting Brogan at the Grill.

'Maybe you should take that into consideration, Rebekah. Elijah.'

* * *

She was at the Grill in seconds. Walking in, she noticed Alaric sat with a pretty brunette at the bar, with Brogan not too far away. Her brother, sensing the presence of his sister, turned and gave her a grin, holding his arm out to her as she approached before placing it on her shoulder as she scooted her bar stool closer to his. Placing her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes for a moment.

'You forgot to put your clothes on properly,' he joked, fiddling with the loose right strap on her dungarees, leaving the right side hanging over and revealing her lace bralette beneath it. She slapped his hand away wordlessly, her eyes still closed, and her thoughts drifted to how much she enjoyed playing with Kol's hair.

Her eyes snapped open in surprise at where her thoughts went. Shaking her head slightly, she snuggled closer to her brother, who simply gave her a tighter squeeze. He waved the bartender over, who recognised Dahlia and stuck a _huge_ glass of vodka and lemonade in front of her. She smiled brightly, thanking her.

'So, Rebekah slept with Damon last night,' Dahlia announced casually, thinking it might be best just to get that bit of information out there.

Brogan choked on his drink, whilst Dahlia patted him on the back. His face was murderous.

'_What?_'

Dahlia stayed quiet, watching him take a big gulp of his drink and putting his hands over his eyes. 'So she turns me down at the dance and then goes for another person? Fucking brilliant,' he deadpanned, before looking at his sister, eyes wide. 'What's wrong with _me_?'

She shrugged, giving him a soft smile. 'Nothing's wrong with you, Brogan.'

'Then why does she..' he trailed off, looking sadly at the table.

She hadn't realised just how much her brother had taken to Rebekah, and she felt kind of sorry for him. She knew that Rebekah was the type of girl that desperately looked for love and normalcy – that's why she clung onto Matt like he was a floating log in the middle of the ocean.

But she also knew that Brogan, if she gave him the chance, would treat her like she was the center of his world and she would never need any attention from any other man again.

She took his hand. 'Rebekah will come around,' she smiled. 'She's the type of girl that needs attention, Brogan. You've just got to give it to her and prove to her that you're the best one for her out there.'

He said nothing, choosing to finish his drink instead. He squeezed her hand back wordlessly.

Then Dahlia caught wind of the conversation Alaric was having on the phone, presumably with Damon, when he said 'Well, I'm surprised you have time to call, what with all of this Original sex you've been having.'

She quickly clamped her ears over Brogan, who looked at her questioningly. She smiled softly and shrugged, waiting for Alaric to put the phone down before she removed her hands.

'Thanks,' he whispered softly, as Dahlia nodded and waved her hand at the bartender for another drink.

* * *

'Where's Chester?' she asked, a little while later. Brogan shrugged at her, staring into the bar thoughtfully.

They had reverted back to the position they were in when she first arrived – snuggling, with his arm around her protectively. They had moved into the darker corner of the bar, however, staying out of everyone's way.

Anyone could've mistaken them for a couple, with how openly affectionate they were. Dahlia figured that it might have looked weird to some people considering that they were siblings, but that's okay.

There aren't many boundaries left in place when people share a home for two thousand years.

'Can you feel that?' she whispered, closing her eyes. She could feel sparks of electricity against her bare arms, crackling with activity. She felt Brogan nod.

'Something happening, Dahlia. Maybe we should get Chester,' he said quietly, his voice uncharacteristically serious. She pulled out her phone and asked Chester to come to the Grill.

'The magic's just been getting stronger by hour today. Isn't it a full moon tonight..?' Dahlia trailed off, and looked up at her brother with wide eyes.

'If Esther wants to cast a spell, it has to be tonight,' he realised. 'Don't most witches rely on celestial events for power?'

She nodded quickly, when she heard the voice of Kol behind her.

'Hello, darling,' he said smoothly, a drink in his hand. He has his signature cheeky smirk on his face, and was looking at Dahlia's face intently.

Her stomach fluttered, but she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to get flustered over the way a boy made her feel.

'You shouldn't be here, Kol,' she said gently, and he raised an eyebrow. 'You're in a town full of people who want to kill you, and they have the means to do so.'

His eyes narrowed. 'Are you saying I'm not strong enough to protect myself, _Dahlia_?' he growled, his ego taking the brunt of what he assumed to be an insult towards his strength.

She shook her head quickly, surprised that he had interpreted it that way. He simply scoffed and stalked off, walking back to his brother and settling his eyes on the pretty brunette in the corner.

Dahlia sighed, and Brogan looked at her questioningly. She, however, didn't have time to dwell – Chester was fast approaching the siblings, a serious glint in his eyes.

* * *

'Right now the power of the entire Bennett bloodline is swirling around Mystic Falls, and Elijah's taken Elena hostage,' Chester stated, his eyebrows scrunched together in worry.

Now, whilst this wasn't a threat to the siblings at all – they practiced Expression, which was far more powerful than natural magic and they had had two thousand years to practice – the sheer amount of power swirling around Mystic Falls was a huge sign that something big was going to happen. And Dahlia had the feeling that it had something to do with the _newest_ witchy presence in Mystic Falls. The information of Elijah kidnapping Elena however was interesting, and she noticed dismissively that she struggled to care whether Elena was safe or not.

'I can't pinpoint their exact location,' Chester continued, 'but I can feel Esther with the Bennett witches somewhere in the woods.'

'Would they be at the witch house..?' Dahlia questioned uncertainly, 'Surely that would be a good place to be, seeing as they'd have a hundred extra dead witches to help them.'

The boys narrowed their eyes, seeing the logic behind their sister's words. Out of the corner of her eye, Dahlia noticed Caroline – looking _very_ pretty and much more dolled up than normal. She narrowed her eyes as she approached Klaus, before turning out the door and walking out the door again. Caroline was acting as bait.

Kol walked towards the pretty blonde, picking up a pool cue and openly flirting with her. Dahlia tried to focus on the situation at hand, and shoved the ugly monster of jealous back down the black hole right at the back of her mind. She was very fond of Caroline, and she understood why Caroline wanted the Originals dead – Dahlia couldn't let that happen, though. No way. Not for the safety of one girl. Her and her brothers knew that magic originates from one place – if it's genetic, then it's in the DNA and if the bloodline stops then the DNA doesn't get passed on. If the originator of a magically-created bloodline stops, then the flow of energy stops being passed on. And they die.

To save Elena Gilbert, if they wanted to kill the Originals, they would be killing thousands of people.

And the triplets couldn't let that happen.

Their eyes closed as they felt the magic grow once more – they must be setting up the spell, she thought. The electricity in the air was much less erratic than it was just moments before.

Dahlia's eyes snapped up when she heard Kol's groan of pain, and watched with horror as his skin greyed. She was frozen in her seat as Alaric dragged him at the back, moving only when Chester and Brogan tugged on her arms. The triplets shot out of the front of the Grill faster than the eye could see and made their way to he back, just as Klaus appeared. Chester quickly grabbed Stefan by the back of the neck and threw him onto the stairs, as Brogan and Dahlia watched with cold eyes.

'Dahlia? What-' Damon stuttered, looking at his friend with shocked eyes. She gave no response, her eyes steely.

'I should have killed you months ago,' Klaus sneered, turning to Damon.

'Do it,' he replied strongly. 'It's not going to stop Esther from killing you.' He glanced at the triplets, looking for any kind of reaction – they gave away none.

'What did you say about my mother?' Klaus growled, walking towards Damon threateningly.

'You didn't know I was friends with your _mummy_?' he mocked, a sarcastic smile on his face. 'Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do.'

Klaus leaped to attack Damon, but Dahlia interfered.

'Leave him,' she said coldly, her body prickling from the magic in the air.

Elijah appeared at the top of the stairs, the grey on his neck slowly fading. 'We still need them, Niklaus.'

He made his way down the stairs as Stefan shuffled out of his way, his eyes wide.

'What did mother do?' he swung to the triplets, who remained quiet. They obviously knew something, and he growled when they made no movement to acknowledge his question. He swung to his brother. 'What did she do, Elijah?!'

Elijah gave his brother a significant look, pulling his phone out of his inner coat pocket whilst approaching Damon. 'You tell me where the witches are, or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now.'

'You told me we had until after nine,' he said disbelievingly.

The Original brother looked at the Salvatore with a threatening smirk on his face. 'I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early.

Brogan interrupted, his voice vibrating with authority as he looked at the group. 'Enough,' he said firmly, whilst everyone's attention went to him. 'They're at the witch house.'

'How do you know!?' Damon exclaimed, eyes wide. 'Have you been spying on me?'

'Sensing magic comes with being who we are,' Chester replied nonchalantly, before pushing his feet firmly against the floor and leaping up in the air. He stayed motionless about ten feet above the rest of them, like he was standing on invisible flooring. Dahlia and Brogan did the same.

'I suggest you get there quickly,' Dahlia said quietly, knowing the group would've heard them as she walked a few steps in the air before taking off in a blur, her brothers following close at her heels.

* * *

They were stood about fifty feet away from Esther's pentagram – just close enough to hear, but completely out of sight of the paranoid witches and vampire. They were stood twenty five feet in the air, watching down as the triplets watched Kol, Klaus and Elijah approached their mother and older brother, who had just sent the two Bennett witches away to hide in the witch house.

Their gazes were cold.

Killing your own children is the biggest form of betrayal to mother nature, in their opinion. As a mother, it was their duty to look after them – suffer for her own mistakes, instead of taking it out on the children that were caught in the crossfire.

Dahlia was furious. It was taking every ounce of control for her to hold back the monster bubbling inside of her, ready to take out the Original _bitch_.

They could hear every word that was being said.

'That's lovely,' Kol sneered, as the flames around the pentagram refused to grant him entry. 'We're stuck out here, while the favourite son plays sacrificial lamb.' He paused. 'How pathetic you are, Finn,' he spat.

'Be quiet, Kol,' Esther retorted. 'Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine.'

'Whatever you think of us,' Elijah replied calmly, 'killing your own children will be an atrocity.

'My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.'

'Enough,' Klaus drawled, circling his mother. 'All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell.'

'For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim. Suffered, whilst you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better,' her eyes connected with each of her children. 'All of you. You're a curse on this Earth, stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry. You've wasted your time.'

'Hard not to be offended by that, love, and I ain't your kid,' Brogan drawled, landing in front of the Original siblings. Dahlia stood beside him and Chester stood on her other side. They could feel the surprised looks of Kol, Klaus and Elijah on their backs – but they ignored them.

'What are you doing here?' Esther spat, the flames on the torches flaring up in anger at their presence.

'You know,' Dahlia approached the circle, her eyes locking with Esther's. Finn threw a protective arm around his mother as he watched the threatening glint in her eyes grow. 'As a servant of nature, I would've thought that it would be obvious to you that the strongest instinct mother nature has put on this earth is the _maternal_ one.' She paused, looking at the ever growing flames that were approaching her. 'Personally, I think the bigger abomination here would be _you_, their _mother_, sacrificing her children so _you_ could find peace. Letting them take the fall for _your_ mistake, even though _you_ put them in the crossfire of it.'

Every torch in the pentagram grew, circling in an arch until they reached Dahlia, who let out a loud, maniacal laugh. Brogan and Chester stood with stony gazes on their faces as the Original brothers leaned forward, unsure of what was happening. She wasn't dying.

'I always wondered what witches would think of my brothers and I. I dare you to try me,' she whispered dangerously. Cuts started appearing up and down her arms, her face, in her clothes – she was covered in blood in moments, but she continued laughing. They heard the distant, outraged shrieks of witches as they attacked harder, angry that they weren't causing any lasting damage to the girl that was challenging them. The Mikaelson's noticed with horror that each wound was closing at a rapid pace – but it wasn't with flesh.

Each wound that was inflicted on her bled for only a moment before a thin layer of armour-like bone sealed it. Gradually, it started spreading around her body – particles of white started gathering on the crown of her head, encasing the top of her head with a jewellery-like crown and sliding down her face to mask it in a grotesque, skull-like mask.

The white contrasted sharply with her eyes – she looked threatening, she looked like a predator and she looked far more fearsome than the Original vampires could ever hope to look.

She was a true monster.

The skull on her face allowed her a permanent grin, having nothing to hide the sharp teeth that stretched all the way across and it distorted awkwardly as she opened her mouth, allowing her own, open-mouthed smile enhanced with vampiric fangs to shine through.

The Mikaelsons had never seen anything like it. Klaus stared with wide eyes – Dahlia had just made a werewolf look like a puppy dog. And he realised that, at that moment, she wasn't lying when she said she could put him down. She could put him down with the flick of her finger.

Elijah watched in amazement as the frenzy of witches did little to no damage on the previously delicate-looking girl before him. Glancing over at Brogan and Chester, he realised that they looked similar to Dahlia – albeit more masculine looking than Dahlia's, bone was still gathering around their eyes and spreading around their faces, but they didn't have the bone encasing their bodies. Elijah felt powerless against these people, and he didn't like it.

Kol stared at Dahlia in complete shock and bewilderment as she transformed. He had heard rumours of vampires appearing on the Earth well before he and his siblings, but the rumours were quickly discounted when nobody found any evidence of them being alive. He had heard rumours of the Lennox family, known for practicing Expression magic, that had been alive a thousand years before his own time that had suddenly disappeared from their solitary home in the mountains. He had heard rumours of the sheer power that family could wield, and how they could bend and shape whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted into whatever they so desired. He always took witch legends very seriously. He respected the opinions of witches, but even they had discounted the possibility of these unique vampires being in existence. He never thought he would come across them himself – never thought that those horror stories would be based off of Chester, a man who was strikingly similar to his own brother Elijah; Brogan, who was light-hearted, playful and immature; and Dahlia, the petite beauty with a childish sense of humour, a sharp tongue, years worth of wisdom and a kind soul that would help out those who needed it.

Brogan and Chester's eyes had transformed to a terrifying colour – nothing like Klaus' eyes. Their sclera's were completely black whilst their pupils were a startling, shocking yellow that would strike fear into the hearts of the bravest men. Elijah gasped, and his own siblings took notice. _Terrifying_.

'Try fucking harder!' Dahlia roared. Her voice was distorted, like there were several voices speaking at once, like it had been put through some kind of voice distortion program. It was one of the most disturbing sounds that the Originals had ever heard, and Esther looked on at the girl in horror.

Her face looked like her brother's did. Her pupils were a shocking yellow, surrounded by black sclera's. The image of a monster was slowly completing – she wasn't just a vampire anymore, she was a whole other creature, out for the witch's blood.

Brogan and Chester waved their hands in the air, and suddenly, the deceased Bennett witches appeared and surrounded the group.

'We told you to take this into consideration, Esther,' Dahlia snapped, causing Esther to look up at her sharply, 'We told you that we've had two thousand _fucking_ years to hone our craft. We told you to be _careful!_'

Dahlia raised a single finger towards the now visible group of witches, and the Mikaelson's watched with wide eyes as a ball of purple energy gathered at the tip of her finger. It let off a sound as if it was being charged – without warning, it burst into a wide beam, taking out several of the witches at once and causing them to burst into sparks. The more women disappeared, the smaller the torch flames.

'No,' Esther whispered, her eyes wide.

One by one, witches began fading out and disappearing as they were either destroyed, or they fled. Each witch that left allowed the flames on the torches to grow smaller.

Dahlia turned to Esther, her eyes murderous. 'You deserve everything you get for destroying your family,' she deadpanned, her voice still distorted. 'I suggest you leave quickly, before I bury you so far into the Earth's core, it'll be like you never existed. Maybe I'll make _you_ immortal, and you can see how it feels,' she grinned maniacally.

'No,' Esther whispered, 'Sisters! Do not abandon me!'

The witches had suddenly disappeared at a rapid pace – Chester looked at the witch house across from him. The only way to stop someone channeling a witch line _this_ quickly is to kill a living link.

'Mother!' Finn yelled, grabbing onto her before he flashed her away into the night.

Dahlia giggled, flexing her arms as the bone fragments began to fall away from her face and body.

She hadn't released that way in a long time, and it felt good.

She turned to the remaining Mikaelson brothers, who were staring at her in horror.

In that moment, Dahlia looked demonic.

The last fragment fell off her cheek and shattered on the ground, as the black in her eyes began to bleed back into her skull to make way for her normal (and significantly less scary looking) white colour. The pupils of her eyes remained yellow for just a second longer, as they twisted back into the bright green that people had grown fond of.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon and Stefan walking towards them, equally as horrified at what they had seen.

Dahlia smiled sadly when she saw the looks on their faces.

* * *

They had gathered at the Mikaelson mansion after the whole ordeal with Esther. The triplets noticed that not a single person dared to look them in the eye. They appeared to be slightly more comfortable with Brogan and Chester, but with _her_..

Kol stared straight on with a frown on his face the entire way back to the mansion.

She sighed.

As soon as they sat down, the interrogation began. 'What _are_ you?' Nik had snapped, his hands angrily clutching onto the table, staring at the triplets with hatred in his eyes.

'We're immortals,' Chester had replied calmly, leaning back in his armchair.

'You are no ordinary immortal,' Elijah commented sharply, and the triplets looked at him from under their eyelashes. It was strikingly quiet as the seconds went by.

Brogan snorted. 'Define _ordinary immortal_?' he drawled sarcastically.

'Some of you here may already know bits and pieces of the story,' Chester said, gesturing to Rebekah and Kol. 'We didn't, however, feel like explaining ourselves to every Tom, Dick and Harry who asked – especially to the Original Family.'

'I'm sure you understand _that_,' Brogan said, looking at them all. 'After all, you keep your fair share of secrets as well.'

'You _lied_ to me, Dahlia,' Rebekah's face was masked with an expression of fury, but beneath that, Dahlia just about deciphered the emotion in that face.

Hurt.

'No, I didn't,' she replied firmly. 'Just because I didn't tell you _everything_, doesn't mean I lied to you. We decided it would be smart to keep bits of information secret, seeing as our existence was a mere rumour and it had been for the last two thousand years – even amongst the oldest witch circles. We weren't about to paint targets on our backs for the world to aim at, were we?'

'So why reveal yourself tonight?' Elijah questioned, his eyebrow raised. 'The business did not involve you whatsoever.'

Brogan sighed. 'Do you not know anything?'

Elijah's face crumpled, offended.

Brogan took no notice, and continued anyway. 'Earth, natural, spiritual magic – whatever the fuck you want to call it – has _rules_. So does the creation and maintenance of a species,' he paused for a moment, letting everyone take in the information. 'If you want to create a werewolf, they must be born with the DNA in their genetic makeup. You want a witch? They need to have that DNA. That data has to come from somewhere. You apply that logic to vampires – this time, you're not passing on genetics, you're passing on magic. Magic always has to have a source – like a river going down a mountain. You block that river, and everything else dries up.'

They looked up in confusion, and Dahlia sighed. 'He means that, once an Original goes, every vampire of that bloodline goes with them. If Esther had killed you, then thousands of lives would have been lost tonight and they wouldn't of even known why. That is _not_ worth saving a single girl's – Elena's - life.'

It was deadly silent. Chester, sensing the tension, broke it.

'Nobody deserves to be spoken to like that by their mother. Your family are broken enough, and it doesn't need to be destroyed any more.'

'Why do you care?' Klaus growled.

'If you can't already tell, Nik,' Dahlia sighed, 'Family means a lot to my brothers and I. We've spent two thousand years together, with almost no conflict. It makes me sad to see the way you all are. Even though you all _blatantly_ love each other, each of you are so emotionally damaged from your fucked up parents and your fucked up actions that you don't seem to want to fix it.' Dahlia paused, and she glanced at Kol, whose eyes had not raised from the table in front of him. Her voice was gentle. 'I meant what I said to Kol last night. We're no threat to you.'

The only acknowledgement that indicated he had heard her was a small jump of muscle in his jaw.

'Then you can start by explaining who you are, _what _you are, and _why_ you are here,' Klaus snapped sharply.

Brogan rubbed his temples tiredly, leaning forward. 'I'm Brogan Ezra Lennox. This is my sister, Dahlia Eden Lennox and my other brother, Chester Flynn Lennox, born to parents Cato Lennox and Maeve Lennox in 135BC,' he recited, almost robotically.

'Our family were exiled as expression witches and cast out of the local community before our birth. We lived with our parents on our own land – us three, our older brother Rason and our parents, who died when we were fifteen years old and Rason was twenty-two. When we were eighteen, in the winter, it was a night of a full moon. The sun hadn't come out that day, however – and we lost track of time – so my brother Rason was too late in casting up the necessary protection spells and blocks. Dahlia, Brogan and I were killed,' Chester continued, his voice equally as mechanic. 'Rason, an amazingly paranoid individual, had snuck the ingredients of a resurrection spell into our food on a daily basis so he was able to bring us back, where he spent the next month drawing out and planning an immortality spell so we wouldn't have to be hurt again.'

'A month later,' Dahlia continued, 'Coincidentally on the night of a full moon, Rason cast the spell. The majority of it was through Expression magic – sunlight and white oak have no effect on us, as that wasn't a part of the spell. We used Rason's blood as a binding agent, and soon, we were all in transition. That night, a group of werewolves approached our home and attacked us again – wanting vengeance for their brother who was ruthlessly murdered. Rason sealed us in another room and took them on on his own – we watched as they tore him to pieces, and when he died, his spell was lifted. He never made the transition. At this point, each of us blacked out and all we remember is a huge pile of dead wolves in the room as we tried to resurrect our brother. It worked, to a degree.

'You must remember that this was before the Other Side was created. Rason stayed with us to ensure that we would complete the transition. Before he passed on, he split his soul into three pieces and merged each piece with ours as we were completing the transition by feeding on wolves that had, by this point, morphed back to their human form. That's what the white masks are. The bone armour, the white, the extra abilities, everything – that is a manifestation of Rason's soul protecting us when we're in danger and we're hurt.'

'How are you able to perform magic?' Elijah asked quietly, attempting to absorb all of the new information.

'Expression is not considered a form of witchcraft, as it doesn't follow nature's rules,' Chester said. '_Because_ it's not considered nature's rules, and we never did learn anything about natural or Earth magic, we're a sort of loophole – we're manifesting our will into magic, as opposed to borrowing energy from nature and using that instead. Expression is an unlimited source of power. The only limitation is one's will. We've practiced it for over two thousand, one hundred years so we're quite proficient in it. Expression is different from conventional magic, as every witch or warlock eventually peaks at their capabilities of channelling earth magic. Expressionists are limited by their will alone.'

'And you're no threat to us,' Klaus snorted disbelievingly.

Dahlia looked up at him, mildly sad that he didn't believe them.

'You're right,' she whispered quietly. 'If I wanted to, I could turn you human right now. If I wanted to, I could split your werewolf and vampire halves completely into two separate entities. If I wanted to, I could pluck your soul from your body and shatter it, wiping you out of existence. I could have done that any time. I chose not to. I never will. Because you all have grown on me.' Dahlia chuckled softly. 'As Damon so eloquently described it, we're 'jacked up vampires with extra voodoo from our brother's soul'.'

'Can't you bring your brother back?' Rebekah asked.

'No,' Dahlia replied. 'His soul is infused with ours. There's no safe way to remove it, and even if we could, he would never be the same. It would've been impossible to do it before anyway, seeing as he died before the creation of the Other Side – he would've found peace because there was no purgatory for him to enter. And, at that point, not even the strongest Expressionists can reach him. But he never passed on - he resides in us instead. The reason why we fight with smiles in battle is because of Rason's joy of being released, if only for a moment.'

'So, you're a whole soul with a third of your brother's each, in a single vessel,' Elijah confirmed. The triplets nodded. 'And you're double our age?'

They shrugged, smiling softly.

'Indeed we are.'

'And to answer your final question,' Brogan continued, 'We're here because Rason's grave is here. It was simply time to come back. Coming across all of you was simply a coincidence.'

Kol then stood up abruptly, stalking out of the room and heading upstairs with a stormy expression on his face. Dahlia sighed quietly, slumping back in her chair slightly, disappointed by his reaction. Obviously he hadn't learnt too much from the witches he travelled with, she thought.

Rebekah was contemplating everything they had said. They were right, Dahlia had never lied to her. With that in mind, she stood up and gave Dahlia a hug, whispering a quiet 'I get it. And I'm sorry about this morning. You were right,' in her ear before pulling away. She, too, left the room.

Elijah stared on at the triplets, who were sat across from him, _trying_ to absorb the information he had been given. It was hard to swallow. So he gulped loudly, before standing up and giving the triplets a small nod of acknowledgement as he left.

That left Klaus. They could tell he felt threatened by them, and Dahlia felt sad knowing that. She stood up quietly and leaned down, giving him a hug. He stiffened immediately, obviously uncomfortable in her presence.

She let go, and let out a final sigh.

'We're not going to hurt you, Nik. I'll give you time to believe that,' she said softly. 'You're my friend, after all.'

She got up and walked out of the front door, leaving her brothers behind. They knew she was sad that she had received such a negative reaction, so they let her go.

Her foot touched the doorstep, and she leaped into the cold skies above her. She didn't notice a certain Original brother looking out of his window at her.

* * *

'Why is it that I always end up here when I'm feeling sad, Rase?' Dahlia whispered, looking at the patch of ground in front of her as she sat at the top of the hill by Steven's Quarry. 'Tonight was the first time I'd released you in years, and it felt so wonderful. I could feel your joy. And, yet, now everyone hates me for it.'

She failed to notice quiet footsteps approaching her as she stared down at her brother's 'grave', and she continued.

'All I see when you come out is _you_, you protecting me, you healing me, and all I feel is your happiness and your freedom. You've been so good to me all these years, never once letting me lose control,' Dahlia sniffed softly. 'But all everyone else sees is a monster. And I just can't see it that way.'

'Well, I wouldn't quite say _monster_,' she heard a suave voice commenting behind her as someone sat beside her on the ground. Her head snapped up sharply as she took in the appearance of the man under the moonlight.

'_Kol?_' she whispered, disbelievingly, 'What're you doing here?'

'Well, after calming down, I realised that my reaction _may_ have been a tad extreme,' he chuckled lightly. 'They don't call me the temperamental one for nothing, love.'

She smiled at him. For some reason, Kol's acceptance of her was propelling her swiftly to cloud nine.

'You're not afraid?' she whispered, 'Because I'm not going to hurt you, or your family.'

'Well, I have to say I would be lying if I didn't find you absolutely terrifying, darling,' Kol smirked, 'But you did save my life. You saved all of us. So we owe you a 'thank you' for what you did tonight.'

Dahlia was overwhelmed by the unrestrained, intense _joy_ she felt at being accepted and she had flung her arms around Kol's neck in her excitement. He fell on his back with a breathless 'omphf', and they rolled down the hill a few times before Kol stuck his arm out and steadied them.

Dahlia sobered, and realised with flaming cheeks what she had just done. She buried her head in his neck in her embarrassment, and took in his scent – he smelled _divine_, she noticed.

It wasn't a well-known fact, but Dahlia had a thing for how things smelled. Whenever her brothers went away for whatever reason, she would steal their shirts and sleep with them because the smell comforted her.

And Kol smelled _good_. She didn't want to move, and instead breathed in his scent deeply, enjoying the tingles that spread through her body as she did so.

She felt the low rumble of his chest moving underneath hers as he let out a low laugh at her happiness. Realising just how close they were, she shot up and leaned back swiftly, her cheeks the colour of a thousand burning suns.

She's adorable, he thought.

She drew her knees up to her chest and hid her face on them, not daring to meet his eyes.

'I came to tell you that I'll be leaving for a little while,' he said, taking her chin in his fingers and pulling her up to look at him. A flash of disappointment crossed her eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by Kol.

'.. Are you coming back?' she asked quietly.

'Well, Nik's staying, so I can almost guarantee you that I will,' he smirked. He sat cross legged on the ground, before he picked her up and placed her still curled-up form on his lap.

If any more blood rushed to her cheeks, she _may_ just spontaneously combust. Dahlia's body was positively aching with the tingles she felt when he touched her. She was completely unaware that Kol felt the same.

They stayed there for a moment, unmoving until Dahlia leaned her head back onto his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck quietly, once again breathing in his scent. He stiffened slightly at her nose digging against the sensitive skin as she put her arms around his neck again, twisting so that her legs wrapped around his waist.

'You should come visit me,' she commented lightly, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke into the crook of his neck, sending violent vibrations shooting down his spine. He shuddered lightly, before nodding and wrapping his arms tightly around her small waist.

'I'll be back,' he whispered, planting a kiss on her head of curls which tickled his face as the wind shifted, tightening his hold on the girl wrapped around him.

* * *

**AN:**

Obviously I'm better at procrastinating than I am at actually doing anything productive, like study. Oh well.

I've hit 2000 views! Yay. :3

Time to reply to reviews:

**Guest 1: **I'm happy you like the idea of Brogan and Rebekah! I've actually got their mini plot line swirling in my mind. It's in a girl's nature to be difficult when it comes to love - especially in Rebekah's case, so I have a feeling that Brogan _may_ be friend-zoned for a little while if Rebekah's feeling a bit mean. Heh. But he would _definitely_ be good to her - Brogan's a good guy, he would treat her like a princess. n.n

**Guest 2:** I'm glad you think so! I think Klaus is just a super misunderstood person and you only really get glimpses of it when he speaks to Caroline or his family during his vulnerable moments. That's super cool how he's growing on you now. I didn't like him at first either, haha.

**Review/Follow/Favourite/PM!**

Outfits (Polyvore):

Dahlia's outfit throughout the chapter (figured she wouldn't have time to change between the Grill & confronting Esther):  
/dahlias_grill_outfit_chapter_11/set?id=124121393


	12. Updates

Hi everyone.

I'm so sorry, but **this is not an update**. I felt the need to explain myself for my lack of updates recently.

Firstly, the ball kind of stopped rolling for me. Writing the latest chapter was so difficult and I was really anticipating some kind of feedback (positive or negative) so that I could gauge my reader's reactions towards it. Alas, I didn't get much feedback at all and it was fairly disappointing.

However, that's not the only reason I've been inactive. In terms of personally, I've been super busy and I'm currently working abroad so writing is few and far between. I also have a slight problem where I kind of fixate on one fandom at a time ^.^' I may have been obsessing over Criminal Minds a little bit lately. Sorry! But on a technical side, I don't actually have a laptop right now. I traded my old Macbook in for a new one with custom adjustments, so it should be here soon. Then I have to wait and see if I can get Word, cus that's my preferred processor.

Feel free to PM me and kick me in the butt. I'm hoping my muse comes back soon, because it was super fun writing about Dahlia and her brothers but any inspiration at all would help. Ideas, feedback, even music that you personally like to write to. Maybe that's my issue, I've not really listened to new music recently.

Nevertheless, my babies, I'm very sorry. I'll make a return soon.

**~ Em**


	13. Chapter 12

'Hello?' Dahlia pulled away from Kol, as her phone rang in her pocket. She smiled at him softly as she crawled back onto the ground, sitting Indian-style and watching him as he gave her a proud, parting smirk, before disappearing off into the shadows. She felt an unexpected pang of disappointment as she watched him run into the darkness, but she shook her head and cleared it quickly. It was completely irrational for her to think this way; she had only met him a few times. But God, had those times left an impression.

'Dahlia,' Klaus greeted, his voice clipped. He sounded angry, and he sounded intimidating. Dahlia raised an eyebrow as she stood up and dusted herself off, briefly pondering the silence surrounding her. Mystic Falls really had no activity whatsoever – there wasn't a single animal out here. It was kind of disturbing when she actually thought about it.

'What have I done now?' she joked, although she wondered quickly whether she actually had done anything. He didn't sound very happy.

'Rebekah has just made the absolutely fabulous discovery of another white oak tree,' he drawled, an undercurrent of barely-hidden fury in his tone. Hearing this, both of Dahlia's eyebrows raised. Taking a look around, she pondered on which way to go. She started spinning in circles before coming to an abrupt halt - observing the direction she stopped in, she nodded to herself and put her foot forward.

'So burn it,' she replied casually, looking at her nails. 'Where did you find this information from, anyway?'

'The Lockwood Cellar.'

'And what makes you so sure that it will be a threat?' Dahlia replied. Her voice was completely indifferent as she picked a few chips of polish from her nails, and sighed at the silence that she received for just a few moments. It's funny that, as a vampire, everything is heightened to such an extent - after spending just a few days with Kol, she had already learnt the pattern of his breathing. Now, though, there was no sound apart from the crunch of her boots on the ground.

'It's the only thing that can kill an Original, Dahlia,' Klaus finally snapped. It sounded quite distinctly like he was calling her an idiot, but she chose to ignore it. Klaus was not as subtle as he wanted to be sometimes. She could practically see his pursed lips in her mind, and Dahlia chuckled lightly - which only seemed to enrage him more. 'Unless you have forgotten that little fact, I'm currently in a town full of people who want to kill me.'

'And yet they've not come after you with it yet, have they?' she replied, and he stayed silent. So she continued. 'Which means that they haven't made heads or tails of those cave paintings – they haven't even tried to. If you draw attention to it, then you'll be giving them that knowledge and then it'll be a threat to you.'

'I had originally called you to enlist your help, although by the sounds of it, love, you're not going to be very much help at all,' he paused, tone slightly dark. 'You said just a short while ago that you were my friend, did you not?'

'I just don't see why you put yourself in these situations,' Dahlia sighed, her voice monotone. 'Why draw attention to it when nobody has even thought of the possibility of there being another tree?'

She heard the dial tone and it took a few seconds for her to process what it meant. Twat, she thought, glaring at her phone slightly. Shaking her head and glancing once more at the direction Kol had disappeared in, she leaped into the air and headed home.

* * *

It took less than a minute for her to get home, but it felt much longer in the silence. Dahlia pulled her shoes off and chucked them in the garage, before making a beeline for the living room where she found her brothers relaxing against the pillow den. They were watching the opening scene of Donnie Darko, which made Dahlia grin ever so slightly.

'It's like you knew I was gonna be home,' she commented lightly, shifting ever so slightly in her clothes that were becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute. Glancing around the room, she spotted Brogan's shirt chucked haphazardly on the sofa and she started pulling off her outfit, leaving her in her underwear before pulling her brother's shirt over her head. She slipped her bra off, and jumped into the empty space next to Brogan who swiftly put his arm around her as she leant her head on his chest. It was quiet for a moment, with nothing but the sounds of the film to distract the siblings.

'It seems like we're no longer the hot topic with the Mystic Falls residents,' Dahlia remarked, her eyes never leaving the screen. Chester gave a small 'hmm?' of wonder, but remained focused on Jake Gyllenhaal riding his bike through the woods.

'There's another white oak tree somewhere, apparently.'

'So the Originals are shit outta luck, then,' Brogan said.

'Well, they will be if they let the Mystic Falls Brady Bunch find out by digging with them still here,' she said, her voice breaking so slightly as she put a bit too much effort into shifting into a more comfortable position. She eventually settled down again, her head on Brogan's lap and her feet on Chester's. Brogan had taken to playing with her hair, whilst Chester mindlessly rubbed her feet.

If anyone but her brothers touched her feet, she would probably flip shit. But this was comfortable. This made her happy. This is where Dahlia should be. She should be with her brothers, and she should be with her family.

Being in Mystic Falls has shown her just how lucky she was that all three of them were close and that they were all together. Dahlia realised just how important these moments of quality time with her family were hugely important, so she relished in them.

She fell asleep with them, none of them moving an inch.

* * *

The French fries were a bit soggy today, she noticed. Dahlia picked at the food in front of her as she looked around the Mystic Grill, noticing a very twitchy Stefan Salvatore, a very blasé Damon Salvatore, as well as a Rebekah Mikaelson sitting with a very smiley Carol Lockwood.

She then notices a Rebekah Mikaelson approaching said Salvatore's, clearly with a mission, she thought. There was no way Rebekah would approach these guys without a reason. Hm.

Maybe Dahlia should've paid more attention. She always misses the most interesting things when she's not paying attention. Sigh.

'And, uh, your family owned the logging mills back then?' she heard Rebekah ask, and Dahlia raised an eyebrow. Wow, so this is what it's about. Why don't you just hand over the information to them on a silver platter? On parchment in a bottle? Over a text message?

For such old vampires, Dahlia thought of the Originals as incredibly stupid on occasion. Shaking her head in dismay, she decided that it may be best just to sit this one out. She didn't care too much about the conversation, but maybe it was good to have this knowledge filed in her brain somewhere between those really sexy boots she's been meaning to get and the time that Modern Family is on.

'You're full of questions,' Damon replied. She could almost see the questioning glint in his eyes, the hint of suspicion.

'I'm just researching the town history,' Rebekah replied smoothly, 'I grew up here after all.'

Despite the fact that Rebekah could possibly one of the best liars Dahlia had ever come across (she supposed it came with the territory of being an old vampire), that excuse was pretty damn poor.

She rolled her eyes and focused on her soggy fries again.

They were getting more and more grim as the seconds went by. Dahlia scrunched her nose.

* * *

She vaguely wondered what she was still doing here. By this point, Dahlia had made her way over to her friends and was sat as a silent observer. They had all but forgotten that she was there - an uncanny ability that Dahlia had, which came in handy sometimes - and she was sipping her usual vodka and lemonade, leg crossed over the other, her stance casual.

'Why are you so grumpy?' Rebekah questioned, looking over at Stefan, eyebrows raised. His attitude stunk of moodiness, and if his face was anything to go by, he felt that way as well.

Damon waved his hand dismissively. 'He's on a master cleanse. Trying to be a better man and all.'

'You know, you were a lot more fun in the '20s,' Rebekah stated, her head tilted. Dahlia watched the exchange, a slightly disinterested glint in her eyes.

Damon smirked, and nudged Rebekah with his elbow. 'Don't rile him up,' he joked, grabbing a bottle of whiskey. 'He's testy when he's being self-righteous.'

'I'm not being self-righteous, Damon,' Stefan sniped, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'I'm just not interested in slaughtering human beings anymore.'

'Oh, okay,' Damon rolled his eyes. 'Fair enough. My mistake.' He pulled Stefan's journal from a bag on the table before continuing, a sarcastic grin on his face. 'You used to be self-righteous. Dear Diary, Damon has lost his way, though I have pulled my life together - he continues to waste his.'

Damon was interrupted when Rebekah pulled the journal from his hands. 'Ouch. His bitterness consumes him. He is nothing but blackness and bile.' She snapped the journal closed, as Dahlia decided to chime in.

'Oh, judgey,' she snickered. 'But very poetic. Very impressive.'

'Well, this is fun,' Stefan stated, looking at his companions. He was clearly displeased.

'You know,' Rebekah said, tilting her head and directing her attention to the darker-haired brother, 'You didn't seem like much fun either, Damon.' She handed the journal back to him as he glared at her lightly.

'I wasn't,' he said, the exact same time that Dahlia snickered out a 'He wasn't.' Looking at her with his eyebrow raised, he continued. 'The woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb and she wasn't getting out for a hundred years. I wasn't having any fun at all.'

'You had fun with us though, love, didn't you?' Dahlia chuckled. Damon rolled his eyes.

* * *

**Mystic Falls - 1912**

'How sad. You're doing it all wrong,' Sage commented, her eyes on the feeding vampire in front of her. 'Bad vampire.'

Looking up apprehensively, Damon cast a glance at the boxer that was watching him. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket before wiping his face clean of blood.

'I was hungry. Now I am not hungry. My quality of form is purely subjective.'

'A woman isn't just for food,' Sage commented, meandering her way so that she stood directly in front of him. 'She's for pleasure.'

'I do not need a woman for pleasure,' Damon replied sharply, 'I am spoken for.'

She grabbed his arm and pulled him harshly back to face her, a glint of anger in her eyes. 'We are all spoken for, in some way,' she ground out, before her tone softened. 'But what is being a vampire if not relishing in the pleasure of it?'

Turning around, she made her way back to the tent before stopping halfway and nodding for Damon to follow. 'Come along. Let me show you.'

* * *

Sage was stood watching the match as Damon walked over to her.

'Beautiful, aren't they?' she said, looking around. Damon joined her, and fixed his eyes upon the more scandalous girls of that age, as it were. 'Not them - they're too hungry for attention. You want the ones who button themselves up,' she nodded towards a group on the other side of the ring, 'Watch them. They can't tear their eyes away.' She traced her finger along his jaw, before continuing. 'Those are the women who secretly crave seduction. They'll put up a good fight, but the game is winning them over, making them beg for it.'

'What if they don't?' he questioned.

'You're a vampire,' she smiled. 'You take it.' He looked at her, slightly surprised.

'Her,' Sage nodded towards a particular woman, whose eyes were transfixed on the fight. Damon and Sage looked at each other, before he made his way towards the girl.

Both vampires had failed to notice the presence of three shadows stood in the corner of the tent, each watching the exchange closely. The well-kept man was expressionless, his navy blue eyes devoid of emotion as his slightly more unkempt twin grinned in pride. The girl had a cheeky glint in her eyes as she nibbled her finger softly. 'Well, would you look at that. Damon's finally growing up.'

* * *

**Mystic Grill**

'That sounds like Sage alright,' Rebekah said, looking curiously over at Dahlia who was smiling at her.

'How did you know her?' Damon questioned, taking a sip from his drink.

'She was obsessed with my brother Finn, over nine hundred years ago,' Rebekah drawled, completely disinterested.

'What, creepy suicidal guy?' Damon asked, eyebrows raised in shock.

Dahlia chuckled. 'I'm guessing that you didn't like Sage very much. She was fun.'

'Washed up tart, is more like it,' sniped Rebekah, casting a glance at Stefan's ticking finger.

'Fucking stop,' Dahlia snapped at him, her eyes narrowed. He stared back at her defiantly for just a moment before shooting up from his seat and grabbing his jacket from the back of it.

'Alright, you know what? I, need to uh, I gotta get out of here.' He walked quickly towards the door as Damon stood in front of him, blocking his path.

'Sure,' Damon smirked, 'But first, admit you're jonesing.'

'Damon, I'm not-' he was interrupted by Damon grabbing him, eyes hard. 'Admit it.'

Stefan's jaw clenched as he grabbed his brothers arms just as tightly. 'Okay, fine, I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff, why do you need to hear me say it?'

'Maybe he's feeling self-righteous too,' Dahlia chuckled, finishing the last of her vodka. With a shake of her head, she put a hundred dollar bill down on the table, before grabbing her purse and sauntering her way out of the bar, her companions not far behind her.

* * *

'So, he doesn't want to drink human blood?' Rebekah observed, her stance casual. Stefan had overtaken Dahlia at this point, which left Rebekah, Dahlia and Damon walking together behind him.

'Ah, he's an eternally guilty conscience,' Damon replied flippantly, a smirk on his face.

'Funny,' she replied. 'When I knew him in the twenties, he didn't have any conscience at all. One of the things I liked the most about him,' she paused, 'Can't possibly think he can survive without feeding.'

'Oh, on the contrary, he's determined to live his life pursuing one extreme or the other. He's a stubborn one, my brother. Uh, think I'm gonna need some help with this one.'

Chuckling softly, the girls looked at him. 'And what can we do?'

Dahlia watched a pretty blonde woman cross their path. Uh oh, she thought, laughing softly. The woman was in for a very bad night, it seemed. She never once took her eyes off of Stefan as Damon compelled the woman not to scream, before making his way towards her exposed neck. She watched as Stefan turned around, panic in his eyes as he smelled the very drug he craved being spilled before his eyes. She listened to his panicked tones as he commanded Damon to stop, and she watched as Rebekah restrained the frightened girl.

'Pathetic.' Dahlia commented, her eyes fixed on the younger Salvatore. He didn't even hear her, but it didn't escape Damon's notice.

'Sorry brother, it's dinner time. Have a bite,' he gestured.

'What are you doing,' Stefan gasped. It was clear in his eyes - he was desperately fighting to keep control of his emotions, and his homicidal streak. A truly pathetic sight to see, in Dahlia's opinion. Over a hundred years as a vampire, and newborns have more control than he does. For God's sake.

'Tough love, Stefan,' Damon replied, his tone hard. 'You're not gonna survive this cold turkey thing. You never do. It's time to get that monkey off your back.'

'No,' Stefan snapped. 'No!'

Dahlia watched Damon taunt his brother, before she had enough and pushed herself off of the wall. She gave Stefan a sharp shove towards the woman, and he barely even spared her a glance as she did so - he was too busy watching Rebekah go in for the kill. Using Dahlia's push as momentum, he shoved Rebekah out of the way and held onto the girl, transfixed on her bleeding artery.

'I got it from here,' Damon said, waving Rebekah away. 'Go ahead.'

'The night's just getting started..!' she replied, offended. 'Dahlia gets to stay!'

'Dahlia is scarier than you. Scram, Rebekah, no-one likes a lurker.'

Rebekah glared at him, quiet for just a moment. 'You're a real arse, you know?'

'So I'm told,' he replied dismissively, as she walked away. He turned back to his brother to find him being shoved off the girl by Dahlia - straight towards Matt and Elena, who were watching the scene with wide eyes. Damon by this point had his wrist in the girl's mouth - Stefan, on the other hand, had blood running down his chin and panic dancing in his eyes.

'Stefan,' Elena gasped, taking in the scene with wide eyes. 'What are you three doing?'

Dahlia stayed quiet, as Damon replied. 'Relax, Elena,' he said, his arms raised. 'Just a little experiment. There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be.'

She continued staring at the scene, as Matt tried to get her to move. 'Let's just go,' he said, nudging her away. Elena stood stock still, her face creased at what she was seeing.

'Elena!' Matt snapped, grabbing her and dragging her away. She came to her senses, and moved on her own - but not without casting a heartbroken look at Stefan, who looked like a puppy whose tail had been stepped on. He watched her leave, before turning and walking swiftly in the opposite direction, bumping into Damon as he did so.

'Stefan, wait. Hey. Stefan, Wait!'

'Leave him,' Dahlia drawled, 'He needs to be broody.'

* * *

'I know it may not seem like it, but you did really well tonight. And before you know it you're gonna be the king of moderation,' Damon said, looking carefully at his brother. 'Elena will understand.'

'Doesn't really matter what Elena thinks,' Stefan replied tonelessly.

Dahlia rolled her eyes. 'Shut the fuck up. You're being annoying. You give a shit, as everyone who was present clearly saw tonight. Including myself. So enjoy what you accomplished tonight instead of wallowing in what went wrong. Like you always fucking do.'

Stefan stood up angrily, making his way towards the petite brunette in his way. She stood her ground, her eyes narrowed. He could fuck right off if he thought he could intimidate her - even in his no-humanity mode.

'Why do you even care, huh? You don't know me,' he snapped, before turning to Damon. 'And you! The whole brother bonding thing - getting Elena to hate you - what, do you feel guilty about kissing her? Is that it, Damon? Because you can stop. Go back to hating me. It was a lot easier.'

Damon's expression hardened. 'Can you, for one minute, actually believe that I'm trying to help you?'

'I don't need your help,' Stefan sniped back.

Damon's eyes widened in surprise. 'You- you don't need my.. are you kidding me? Do you remember what happened the last time you said that?!'

'Believe it or not, Stefan,' Dahlia chimed in, 'Damon can actually control his bloodlust - you, on the other hand, cannot.'

'What are you talking about?'

'1912, Stefan. The last time I convinced you to drink human blood.'

'When you tore that person's head off, Stefan,' Dahlia commented, looking back and forth between the two brothers. 'What? I was there, Damon, don't you remember?' she sighed at the quiet, before continuing. 'Stefan, by the end of that decade, they were calling you the Ripper of Monterrey.'

'I let you walk away,' Damon said, his tone hard. 'The Founder's Council killer had nothing on you. I watched you go over the edge, and I didn't do anything to help you.'

'You couldn't have,' Stefan replied, his voice toneless - hopeless.

'Despite what you think, Stefan, you weren't a lost cause. You still aren't,' Dahlia said, picking at her chipping nail varnish.

'I could've. I just didn't want to - but I want to now,' Damon stated, his eyes fixed solidly on his brother. 'And, whenever you go too far, I will be there to pull you back. Every second, every day, 'til you don't need me.'

'Why?' Stefan breathed, and it was quiet for just a moment as Dahlia chose to just observe what was going on.

''Cause right now, you're all I've got.'

* * *

**AN:**

My smallest update yet. :( I'm so sorry.

This is 100% a filler chapter. I need to get going again. It doesn't help that I have another idea swirling around my brain, inspired by my ex boyfriend's new, slightly psychotic girlfriend and Criminal Minds. And VD, of course. However, I felt the need to put a chapter up so that I can get a message across and try and dip my toes back into this story.

I would like to say that I do actually have several ideas for this story - however, I'm struggling to connect from point A to point B. I know what I'm going to do with Kol's death - I know what I'm going to do with Dahlia before and after that - however, there's a long way to go yet and quite frankly, I despise the Alaric chapter of the storyline. I like him as a character, but the whole resurrection ring thing was just long and drawn out and annoying to say the least - in my opinion, anyway.

Feel free to leave any criticisms, or drop me a message with any ideas. Trust me, it really, really would help - especially since now Kol's gone. Would anyone be interested if I attempted to explore the potential relationship between Brogan & Rebekah? & I also feel like Chester needs some loving. Hm. Slash anyone? ;)

Anyway - sorry again for this crappy chapter! :(

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